Working unconventional hours in remote locations disrupts business more than material shortages.

As we enter the third year of our pandemic-altered world, more chains are strained than just supplies. With people working remotely during odd hours, changing careers, or stepping out of the workforce altogether to care for loved ones, the basic chain becoming strained is communication.

A counterargument to cutting staff and inventory.

One of those rituals that takes place around this time is developing the business plan and related budgets for the new year. Deciphering the crystal ball, discerning optimism from reality in the sales forecast, determining budget capital investments and human resource needs, and so on, is always a complex task. The very unusual pandemic/post-pandemic world we are now in makes it even more so.

Haverhill, MA: Haverhill Massachusetts based IMI, Inc. a world recognized fabricator of substrates and printed circuit boards serving the demanding RF/Microwave, military, communications and ruggedized industrial markets, was featured in the October 2021 PCB007 Magazine. Peter Bigelow, IMI’s President was interviewed in the article titled “Managing Capital Expenditures: Not Just Machines Anymore”.

The current crisis was years in the making.

One of the biggest current concerns for the economy, in virtually every country in the world, is the state of the global supply chain. Whether discussing the shortage of chip’s impact on the auto industry or the shortage of paper goods (think toilet paper), all fingers point to a supply chain that is showing signs of fatigue.

Today’s builders have data analytics skills that match their manual dexterity.

Sometimes you see things a hundred times or more before it hits you the image presented does not match the message it intended to convey.

If ever employees deserved a big “Thank You,” now is it.

Haverhill, MA, August 26, 2021.  IMI, Inc. announced today that they have acquired and installed a Keyence VHX-970 Digital Microscope with VH-ZST Zoom Lens.  This sophisticated microscope system will complement IMI’s current inspection systems and further improve overall inspection, test and measurement capability. 

The trend toward keeping ideas under wraps may slow adoption.

Early in my career cutting-edge technology was personified in hardware, such as a wire EDM machine for cutting metal used in dies for wire-to-wire terminals: for instance, forks, rings and spades. No one in those days associated software with technology. It was simply some magic the IT department created to generate reports.

The cycle of higher unemployment and prices must be broken.

I am not an economist, but having been around the block more than a few times over the past decades, it sure looks like financial déja vu!

Five ideas for being a better worker.

“People who need people, they’re the luckiest people in the world,” or so the song goes. If that’s true, though, why do I feel so unlucky?

For many years, colleagues from virtually every industry imaginable have agreed their Number One need, desire, concern and frustration is finding good people to hire. Regardless of job level or education experience, hiring qualified people is possibly the biggest challenge industry faces globally.