the ems industry took off after the late 1970s when solectron was established. at the time, most electronics manufacturing for large-scale product runs was handled by the in-house assembly. these new companies offered flexibility and eased human resources issues for smaller companies doing limited runs. the business model for the ems industry is to specialize in large economies of scale in manufacturing, raw materials procurement and pooling together resources, industrial design expertise as well as create added value services such as warranty and repairs. this frees up the customer who does not need to manufacture and keep huge inventories of products. therefore they can respond to sudden spikes in demand more quickly and efficiently.