Costa Rica Manufacturing Momentum: with Stephan Weiss, CEO at Zollner Electronics Inc.

A customer hears “Costa Rica” and thinks rainforests and beaches. Then they walk into a spotless factory, meet a sharp engineering team, and suddenly nearshoring feels like the smartest move on the roadmap. From the inauguration of Zollner’s expansion in Costa Rica, I’m joined by Stephan Weiss, CEO for the Americas, to unpack how manufacturing credibility is built and why this region keeps surprising people who have not visited the floor. 

We talk through the growth story from the early Milpitas days in Silicon Valley, the steady expansion, and how added facilities and acquisitions create a stronger Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) network. Stephan explains what it takes to move a product from an early build environment to higher-volume contract manufacturing, and why customers become “sold” once they see the 5S discipline, lean manufacturing mindset, and the clean, organized execution that supports high quality and reliability. 

The conversation goes deeper on the real driver: engineering. Costa Rica has developed a critical mass of talent through stronger university pipelines and hands-on EMS experience, enabling more complex mechatronics assemblies and faster problem-solving. We also explore what it means for Costa Rica to become a center of excellence for the Americas, including cross-site work on Kaizen, automation, robotics, and practical AI applications, all while preserving a rare “family culture” that keeps people around for the long haul. 

If you care about nearshoring strategy, manufacturing engineering, and what actually convinces customers to move production, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a teammate, and leave a review with the biggest factor you look for in an EMS partner.

EMS@C-Level is hosted by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com) and Global Electronics Association (https://www.electronics.org)

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