What if your supply chain felt like one well-run factory instead of a maze of vendors and shifting promises? I sit down with founder and CEO Erik Stenfors at Hanza's Capital Markets Day in Stockholm to unpack a simple but powerful idea: build a manufacturing partner the way a buyer wishes it worked. That means vertical integration where it counts, smart outsourcing where it helps, and a single accountable brain coordinating many capable hands.

We walk through the evolution from scattered globalization to an orchestrated model that turns fixed costs variable, reduces delivery risk, and makes room for growth. As Erik explains, HANZA's framework runs on three axes—geography, technology, and capacity—so investments land where customers feel them most. HANZA 2025 was a phase focused on capacity and balance, HANZA 2028 shift toward technology, adding processes that expand the scope of supply and collapse handoffs. Not every site needs every tool; instead, clusters keep a common backbone while deepening specialities that remove real bottlenecks in electronics, mechanics, and final assembly.

Voice of customer sits at the center. We share a standout story where a client moved from roughly forty suppliers to one orchestrated solution, gaining shorter lead times, clearer data, and fewer escalations. Acquisitions matter only when they extend the backbone or sharpen regional coverage without diluting standards. The aim stays constant: a consolidated supply chain that behaves like an integrated plant, priced like a flexible network, and measured by outcomes buyers actually care about—reliability, responsiveness, and total landed cost.

If you’re ready to rethink how you scale, reduce risk, and free your team to focus on design and market instead of firefighting, press play.

Subscribe for more candid operations strategy, share this with a teammate who’s drowning in vendors, and drop a review to tell us what capability you want added next.

This podcast is part of series recorded at HANZA's Capital Markets Day in Stockholm on March 10th 2026.

MADE IN EUROPE is a Global Electronics Association podcast hosted by Philip Stoten and produced and published by SCOOP. For more information on Global Electronics Association visit https://www.electronics.org/

Energy prices can spike overnight, shipping lanes can become political flashpoints, and suddenly the “normal” electronics supply chain starts to look fragile. I sit down with Alison James, Senior Director for European Government Relations at the Global Electronics Association to talk through what the latest geopolitical tensions could mean for European manufacturing, including the quiet but critical dependencies many people forget, like petrochemicals across the electronics value chain and helium for the semiconductor industry.

From there, we move into the policy engine room: the European Chips Act review and the next proposal expected from the European Commission as part of a broader tech sovereignty package. We unpack why this matters beyond semiconductor fabs, and why printed circuit boards, EMS, IC substrates, and advanced packaging have to be in the conversation if Europe wants real supply chain resilience instead of isolated capacity.

We also dig into the surge in defense-driven demand and what it means that Europe’s first defense industry program explicitly includes electronics capacity building, with funding and a call that names PCBs and IC substrates.

Then we turn to automotive, where EV competition and new “Made In Europe” style procurement rules could reshape sourcing decisions, define what “origin” means, and create tough trade-offs across a global electronics ecosystem. If you care about European electronics manufacturing, industrial strategy, or how policy becomes real constraints and real opportunity, this is a practical roadmap. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the one policy change you think would help most.

MADE IN EUROPE is a Global Electronics Association podcast hosted by Philip Stoten and produced and published by SCOOP. For more information on Global Electronics Association visit https://www.electronics.org/

Europe's defense industrial base stands at a critical inflection point. Military experts warn we have just three to five years to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities before facing potentially devastating security challenges.

I talked about these trends and the European response with Kitron Group's President and CEO, Peter Nilsson and Managing Director of Kitron AS, Hans Petter Thomassen, who participated in the “Implementation Dialogue on EU Defence” with Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, held in Brussels recently.

The European Commission recognizes this urgency. They've initiated an "omnibus" bill aimed at helping defense manufacturers ramp up production quickly, bringing together industry leaders from major prime contractors to innovative startups developing cutting-edge battlefield technologies. But the challenges are enormous.

Most electronics components, semiconductors, and specialized materials used in European defense systems come from outside the continent. While stockpiling strategic materials for several years provides a short-term solution, the long-term challenge of rebuilding secure supply chains remains daunting. For specialized materials like munitions chemicals, new production facilities require five years just for permitting and environmental studies.

Regional responses vary dramatically across Europe. Countries feeling immediate threat – the Nordics, Baltics, Poland, and Germany – are leading with bold procurement initiatives and defense budgets approaching 5% of GDP. These long-term commitments provide the certainty manufacturers need for major capacity investments.

Perhaps most exciting is the rise of defense technology startups across Eastern Europe. From drone innovations to laser targeting systems, these companies bring battlefield-ready solutions developed with real-world urgency. As one Ukrainian defense official emphasized: "A system you can provide me two years from now has zero interest – I need something for tomorrow."

The war in Ukraine accelerates these trends, serving as both catalyst for action and testing ground for technologies. Defense donation programs deliver immediate battlefield feedback on new systems, strengthening the innovation cycle.

Want to explore how these defense industry transformations might affect your business? Join us at the upcoming IPC defense event in Brussels on June 10th, where industry leaders will be tackling these critical challenges head-on.

MADE IN EUROPE is a Global Electronics Association podcast hosted by Philip Stoten and produced and published by SCOOP. For more information on Global Electronics Association visit https://www.electronics.org/