Are you familiar with the “locus of control," which describes how much we believe our actions can change the outcome of our lives? Internal locus of control, for example, is the belief that our actions greatly shape our outcomes; external locus of control holds that external forces have a greater influence than our actions on how our lives play out. How we view our own locus of control can strongly influence how we respond to the world, perhaps even creating a self-fulfilling prophecy situation. The news has taken a more languid pace this week. Not so, however, for our intrepid band of I-Connect007 columnists, who thoughtfully tackle some chunky locus of control topics.

Our industry has long operated on a relatively straightforward formula:  invest in equipment, build a solid production team, develop reliable manufacturing processes, and compete for business based on quality, delivery, and price. If a shop maintained strong relationships with customers and consistently delivered dependable work, there was every reason to believe the business would continue growing steadily for years. In many ways, this model built the modern PCB industry. But the environment surrounding electronics manufacturing has changed dramatically, and I am concerned that many U.S. domestic fabricators have not fully adjusted to these changes.

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