As electronic vehicles (EVs) become the norm, their internal architectures are evolving in parallel, growing smarter, more integrated, and vastly more complex. At the center of this transformation is the control system, the “central nervous system.” From managing energy flow to ensuring safety-critical operations, a trio of electronic brains—the vehicle control unit (VCU), the motor control unit (MCU), and the power distribution unit (PDU)—work in concert to orchestrate seamless propulsion, intelligent energy usage, and adaptive safety responses.

In this conversation with David Ly, technical sales manager at Inovaxe, the spotlight lands on one of EMS manufacturing’s most overlooked bottlenecks: material handling. While factories invest heavily in line automation, David argues that true efficiency gains come from automating the transactional data and traceability behind every reel—not just moving parts around. From image-driven receiving to pick-to-light smart racks, he demonstrates how EMS companies can reduce labor, eliminate errors, and achieve near-continuous uptime—often with ROI measured in months, not years.

Every engineer knows the pain of searching for parts—it’s often slow, frustrating, and outdated, more like flipping through a phone book than using modern technology. Despite decades of progress in electronics, component sourcing remains one of the industry’s most tedious and time-consuming tasks.