Audio Product Education Institute to Hold Supply Chain and Sourcing Introductory Webinar

The Audio Product Education Institute (APEI), an initiative of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) that is committed to furthering the knowledge and skills of professionals involved in the development of audio products, will present the free webinar “Changes and Opportunities in Supply Chain and Sourcing – The Changing Global Dynamics, Managing Suppliers, Planning Your Options” on August 26, 12:00 Noon Eastern Daylight Time (9:00 AM Pacific). Registration for this free event is available at https://tinyurl.com/APEI-AES-Sourcing1.

This will be the introductory event in APEI’s Supply Chain and Sourcing education pillar – one of APEI’s six foundational foci. In this webinar, Mike Klasco, CEO, Menlo Scientific and APEI’s chair of its Supply Chain and Sourcing education pillar, will address the methods, practices, economics and politics of the hardware, software and development services that go into every audio product produced. “Long-established relationships, trustworthy suppliers that know what we want and need, are losing their position as viable vendors,” explains Klasco. “Where do we go from here?”

In this webinar, Klasco will be joined by two highly experienced guests – Dave Lindberg (CEO, DB Enterprises HK, Ltd.) and Dan Digre (President at MISCO Speakers, Oaktron Aerospace, and Warkwyn Labs, Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul). Together they will address the challenges in the supply chain caused by the rising cost of goods from China, the tariff wars, Hong Kong’s struggles, and the dynamics of the global pandemic. The emergence of new suppliers in Asia and what part of the audio business can brought back home will also be explored in detail.

“Over the last few decades we have all grown complacent with sourcing our products, or at least most of our components, from China,” explains Klasco. “But running away to Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and other countries won’t help much as the key parts vendors for Southeast Asia (and beyond) are still in China. And those countries are all finding themselves bathed in the first waves of brands exploring their supply chain options. For sure, there are options, but it is going to take a lot of work getting through these times. Manufacturers cannot expect that samples will come from new vendors as quickly as they were used to back in the good old days,” adds Klasco.

The webinar will be followed by a live Q&A session with all three presenters.

The Audio Product Education Institute will also host sessions across three days of the AES Show Fall 2020 Convention in October. Presentations will span all of APEI’s educational pillars: Interactive Voice Con; Supply Chain and Sourcing; Modeling and Measurement; Product Management; The Legal World; and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Early Bird registration rates are available through August 31 at AESShow.com.

Webinar details:
“Changes and Opportunities in Supply Chain and Sourcing
The Changing Global Dynamics, Managing Suppliers, Planning Your Options”
August 26, 12:00 Noon Eastern Daylight Time (9:00 AM Pacific)
Platinum Sponsor – Menlo Scientific
Registration: https://tinyurl.com/APEI-AES-Sourcing1.

APEI Presenters:
Mike Klasco, APEI Committee Member and CEO of Menlo Scientific, Richmond, California, a consulting firm for the loudspeaker industry. He is a graduate from New York University, with postgraduate work in signal processing, and he holds multiple patents licensed or assigned. For the past 35 years, Klasco has worked on countless R&D projects for large and small companies. Klasco specializes in materials and fabrication techniques to enhance audio performance.

Dave Lindberg is the CEO of DB Enterprises in Hong Kong and an experienced professional in business and project management, working with brands and technology suppliers in Asia.

Dan Digre is the President of MISCO Speakers, Oaktron Aerospace, and Warkwyn Labs, from Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul. MISCO, a proud Minneapolis Speaker Company, is an OEM manufacturer of loudspeakers and audio systems for a variety of professional and commercial markets including aircraft, medical, gaming, alarms, home audio, car audio and pro audio. Warkwyn is an acoustic R&D company that designs and tests loudspeaker drivers and loudspeaker systems for the professional and consumer marketplaces. They operate an independent acoustic measurement lab in North America and offer Klippel analysis for transducers and systems developed in-house and elsewhere. Warkwyn is also the North American Sales Agent for Klippel equipment and support.