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Jake KulpYou’re going to make some mistakes!

Having led different-sized sales forces over the years, I’ve made some massive hiring mistakes. This isn’t a “how to avoid all hiring mistakes” piece; everyone will make hiring errors over a long and active career. It is how you respond to those mistakes that can make a big difference in your company.

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Peter BigelowMemory chip shortages and PCB order spikes signal strength, but history suggests caution amid the hype.

It appears that possibly, as baseball legend Yogi Berra would have said, it’s déjà vu all over again.

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Hemant ShahA simpler, smarter way to get stackups right the first time.

For years, we talked about “handing off” design data to manufacturing partners. Many still do. The handoff model is simple: design sends “build intent” in one direction, usually through a mix of emails, spreadsheets, PowerPoints and Word documents.

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Alun MorganThe switch to renewables is about energy security and climate change.

While climate change is obviously the big-picture issue in the global drive to decarbonize, energy security is an important aspect that is shaping governments’ policies worldwide. From either perspective – strategic or environmental – Europe and the US are far behind China in the race to adopt renewables. China reported installing 198GW of solar capacity between January and May. Effectively, that’s the equivalent of adding 100 panels every second!

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Susan MuchaWhen EMS gets treated like a commodity, quality becomes the hidden surcharge.

One trend in the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry that I don’t like is the commoditization of services. This isn’t new. It’s been going on for decades, but it has been getting worse. Part of the problem, I think, is that the EMS value proposition has gotten lost. The lengthy period of material constraints and forecast instability changed many business behaviors, not necessarily for the better. Also, purchasing organizations have undergone a generational shift. The result has been several unrealistic expectations that harm the business relationship on both sides.

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Peter BigelowRepairing ancient technology has its silver lining.

Let it be said that the printed circuit industry faces a whole lot of challenges. While some are geopolitical in nature, most are not. The foundational challenge is advancing technology in the most cost-effective and profitable manner to enable continued development of exciting new processes and products. Successfully meeting these basic challenges has long been the hallmark of our industry.

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