Getting the North American PCB industry off death row: part two My column last week Let’s Get off Death Row, woke a few people up. I heard from a number of people, and for the most part the response was positive. People let me know that my words made them feel better. That it made […]
Let’s Get Off PCB Death Row
For at least twenty years now the American PCB industry has been sounding its’ death knell. There has been an overriding feeling that it is over and now it is only a matter of time. All I hear is the mournful wailing of the injustices that we have been dealt. It makes me feel that […]
I’m Confused By ITAR!
Look, let me say this from the beginning, I’m a big fan of ITAR. I believe that yes, we should have some kind of protection for defense aerospace products being built by American companies by American citizens. I think it is good for the PCB and PCBA industry for sure. I don’t like the idea […]
At Least Try To Be Found!
The other day a rep I did not know called me to get some advice about a new product line. He left only his name, no phone number and yet he asked me to call him back! Fortunately, I have caller ID. Maybe he just assumed that everyone has caller ID. But he called my […]
What A Time We Live In!
As I sat in the back seat of my UBER the other day looking at the smartphone the driver was using to find my destination, I could not help but wonder at all of the changes that have occurred in the world during the past 45 years. I remember hosting a group of people to […]
Pride Of Product
I recently read that when workers see who is using the end product that they are working on their productivity increases by up to 10%. This factor applies to a range of occupations from how it affects people working on medical devices when they see in real life how their devices are used to save […]
PCB Heroics
The PCB is not a commodity Normally I am a pretty mild mannered guy. But if you want to see me really get riled up, then call a printed circuit board a commodity! As I have said a million times a 28 layer blind and buried printed circuit board is not, nor will it ever […]
What Is Your Purpose?
I bet you have never been asked that question before, right? Sure, we all talk about what our company’s mission is, but we seldom, if ever talk about what our purpose is. Now let me make the prediction that if this is the first time you hear the question, it will not be the last. […]
Setting Goals That Work!
The best way to accomplish anything significant is to set goals. Look, I know all those jokes about New Year’s resolutions and how they last about as long as a snowball in Tucson in August, but then again, goals are critical to getting anything done in life. I am one of those people who sets […]
2021: “Let’s Hope It’s a Good One Without Any Fear” – John Lennon
Yes, I have been accused of being an optimist. Sometimes I have even been called a “Rose-Colored Glasses” optimist, which to my pessimistic accountant and banker friends is just about the cruelest insult they think they can launch at me. But then I just laugh them off and put my Rose-Colored Glasses back on. […]