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It's Only Common Sense: Spring is Here

Editor's Note: To listen to Dan's weekly column, as you've always done in the past, click here. For  the written transcript, keep reading...Spring is here for the North American PCB industry and new and exciting developments are emerging. A number of new PCB shops are being built and will open in the very near future. They will more than likely be private or captive shops, but the fact that they are new and in this country is still a big deal.

Whether you prefer the term “onshoring” or “reshoring,” the process is happening more and more in North America and bodes well for our industry. Many companies--our customers--are finding ways to buy more boards here in the United States and Canada.

And not to be left out, Mexico is being viewed as the new China. More and more I read articles predicting that an increased amount of contract manufacturing assembly work will take place south of the border, a great thing for those of us who build boards on this side of the pond.

It only makes a sense that we would want to see our products built here where we have better control due to proximity as well as hemispheric fraternity. If more assembly is performed in Mexico it stands to reason that more boards will be provided by North American boards shops.

Here's another piece of good news: A recent study predicted that by 2017 the entire global PCB market will reach $92 billion. Can you believe that number? The same study said that the industry is currently at approximately $52 billion worldwide. That's phenomenal growth for the next four years!

The past few years have yielded a tremendous amount of new products in all markets--from consumer electronics to medical electronics to safety and security electronics--all growth areas, each using a tremendous number of PCBs.

All we have to do is look to the happenings of the past week in Boston to see how our world has changed for the better because of new technology-based electronics. Think of the local, state, and federal agencies all working together in perfect coordinated synergy which allowed them to communicate with each other at all times. This process could not have happened without electronics. Think of how small the world has become: A person can't do anything on the streets of any American city without being seen via security cameras. In the case of the Boston bombers, it was first a million phone cameras, then media cameras, and then security cameras from Lord and Taylor’s, the department store across the street from where the bombs exploded.

At 5:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, officials used social media to show the world the first photos of the suspects, and in just a matter of minutes they were getting up to 300,000 tips an hour. As the hunt intensified, numerous officials--from the chief of police to the governor--were using Twitter to inform the press and the public of what was going on. Robocalls were then used to advise residents of Watertown and neighboring communities to “shelter in place” until they had found the suspect. Once officials had the second bomber cornered  in a boat, they used an infrared device to confirm that someone was indeed hiding there.

Several officials interviewed after the incident were asked what they thought was the biggest difference between this event and 9/11. All of them named the advances made in electronics, from communications gadgets that allowed them to use social media to tracking devices and improved security cameras.  Other advances include law enforcement weapons, the ability to learn intricate details about both suspects via the Internet, and the medical electronics used by first responders and doctors to save lives.

The tools we now have at our disposal made all the difference between this tragedy and 9/11--each makes it easier for officials to keep our world safer than ever. Just think of all those changes in just 12 years and then think of what we have ahead of us. It boggles the mind.

This is a time to be optimistic. Just like spring, it's a new beginning for us, a new world. Let’s keep doing our part to make this world a better place. It’s only common sense.