Field Notes: Summit Interconnect—Who Says PCB Manufacturing Can’t be a Picnic?

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be invited to a company-wide celebration of the “marriage” of Summit Interconnect’s two subsidiaries, KCA Electronics and Marcel Electronics Inc. (Well, actually…I kinda invited myself, but luckily they were glad to have me.) The festivities kicked off at noon, when all of the MEI employees arrived in charter buses. They were greeted with music, balloons, dozens of flags flapping and big white canopies to protect them from the scorching 93°F Southern California summer sun. The KCA team joined them as they lined up to get their new bright white T-shirts with the new Summit logo, which most put on and wore immediately.

The smell of barbeque wafted through the air and groups of managers stood with their counterparts in order to get acquainted and swap stories. Unlike most M&As that we hear about these days, this was a happy, celebratory day. No one feared for their job or what the new management might do, or not do to either company. Instead, there was eager anticipation and excitement. A shiny Summit Interconnect sign hung proudly overhead. Just inside the KCA front door, a gleaming, fully stocked, employee break room was being shown off, and shiny new floors paved the main hallway. Equipment was already being installed and the facility was well underway with updates and an aesthetic face-lift. Much had changed since my visit a month earlier.

What really caught my attention though, was all the red, white and blue décor. The large stand of American flags conveyed that somehow, this wasn’t just a good day for these two companies; it was a good day for American manufacturing. I had a chance to grab a quick bite with CEO and President Shane Whiteside, and VP of Sales and Marketing Clay Swain. Both were beaming ear-to-ear and clearly looking forward to growing and nurturing this strong contender. With KCA’s strength in flex and rigid-flex technologies with a focus on the mil/aero marketplace, and MEI’s strength in complex multilayer rigid boards and RF/microwave expertise, they do make a formidable force.

Only the future knows how Summit will compete in the North American PCB marketplace, but on this particular celebratory day—the future looks bright, like an old-fashioned all-American picnic.

Judy Warner has been in the PCB manufacturing and EMS industries since 1984 in a variety of sales and marketing roles. In recent years she was heavily focused in RF/microwave technologies as well as mil/aero and defense applications. She was also a syndicated industry blogger, and a contributor for several trade publications before joining I-Connect007 in early 2016.