Category: Opinion
PCB Designers Should Know How a PCB Is Built
Yes, I know I have said this before, but I hate the idea that some people consider the printed circuit board a commodity. That this electronic component is nothing more than a “green plastic card” a platform for the almighty components. Many, not all, designers, pride themselves on their strategic ignorance of the printed circuit board. Some design trainers have […]
More Dumb Stuff You Should Never Say!
There is never a shortage of dumb things people say. In fact, no matter what is going on in our business, good or bad, up or down, scary or comforting, there is always somebody somewhere who will say something dumb about something. And I’m not even talking about the current political atmosphere where a collection of dumb things those people […]
If We Don’t Work Together, We May Not Work At All
We have a problem in this PCB industry of ours. We are so focused on beating the other guy, that we don’t spend much time working on how we can make our own companies better. In fact, we are always so focused on disrespecting our competitors that we would rather see them fail than succeed. I have noticed that there […]
Peeking Into The Future: The Future Is Here Now!
I like to read anything I can get my hands on, when it comes to predicting technology of the future. I have been doing this since discovering Alvin Toffler’s ground-breaking book Future Shock, decades ago. Since then, I have read several books predicting the future, and so many of the things they talked about in those books have come true. […]
The Future of The North American PCB Industry Is Up To You
No matter what happens in the world, success is up to you There are about 230 boards shops left in North America and out of those about 175 of them are at $10 Million or less and out of those about a 100 are at $5 Million or less and out of those 25 are at $1 Million or less. […]
How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You? Stop Talking And Start Listening
I’ve been concentrating on listening lately. I mean really listening, not doing what I usually do, which is to wait for the person I’m talking with to finish talking so that I can tell him all the great thoughts I was formulating, while he was talking. It’s not easy to listen, we are all so in love with the sound […]
YES! Finally, The State Department Shows Its Teeth About ITAR
I love it! A good friend of mine sent me this article he received in an email announcement from the law firm of WILLIAMS MULLINS. Read it and weep ITAR offenders! Law abiding companies rejoice! Check this out: State Department Announces Another Major ITAR Enforcement Case and $30 Million Penalty By: Thomas B. McVeyOn April 25, 2018 the Directorate of […]
The “We’re Behind Quota Already!” Emergency Crash PCB Sales Plan
So the year has started badly. You thought all that start of year pent up demand would have you rocking. But sales are thin and the funnel is pretty darn dry. You’re beating on your outside sales team and they are doing everything they can with their customer base. Or worse yet you don’t even have an outside sales team…don’t […]
Where Will We Be In Five Years?
A friend of mine got me thinking the other day when he asked me what I thought the North American PCB industry would look like five years from now. That’s an intriguing question isn’t it? A question that I decided to really think about for the next few days. Certainly, I knew already that the next few years would be […]
Great Leaders Do These Things
I once had a boss who wanted to sit in his office all day, never participate in any meetings and then ask us, his managers, to write long tediously detailed reports and give them to him so he would know what was going on. In short he wanted to know everything we were doing without having to participate in anything. […]
