Worldwide collaboration still has a place in the printed circuit board supply chain.

As time marches on and technology, as well as economic and geopolitical events, change and evolve, one thing is as true today as it was decades ago: It is still a small world, after all!

Being in a technology-driven industry, I often marvel at how small refinements to materials, processes and equipment, together, over time, are catalysts that enable truly significant technological advances. One person’s – or team’s – brilliant and possibly radical idea can become reality only when the little things are done in the way of refining existing materials, tweaking known processes and tuning the equipment necessary for its manufacturing. In almost all cases I can think of, the hype over so-called “game-changing” materials or processes, was for naught; the game did not change.

Over time, economies – and especially the geopolitical environment(s) – behave strikingly similarly to how technologies develop and become refined. The little things that fly under the radar tend to collectively impact events far more than the hype surrounding a global leader’s words or actions. As bold or brash as they may seem at the time, more often than not, the result is far from what was promised, expected or feared: The hype was for naught and the game was not changed.

For over half a century, industry has quietly been evolving from the inefficiency of different companies in far-flung parts of the world trying to create and develop the same things to the far more efficient approach of working together to more quickly create and develop new technologies and products. Companies have opened research and development (R&D) sites in many regions of the world to get the best minds collaborating on next-gen products. The same is true with joint ventures where two or more companies leverage their respective strengths: working together to deliver a better product faster and more economically for all. The printed circuit and EMS industries could be considered poster children for how global collaboration can result in highly cost-effective, high-technology products that benefit consumers and manufacturers alike.

Despite the proven efficiency of an interconnected economy, some think the time has arrived to revert to an earlier model, before different companies – and countries – worked together to more efficiently develop and build products. And some proponents of this are hyping their thoughts in bold and brash ways that attract headlines and much hoopla, especially in social media.

Well, call me old fashioned – or just old enough to have started my career in the infancy of globalization – but I’m not buying the brash hype that reverting will be beneficial and replace globalization’s efficiency.

Some claim the global economy has made it too easy to lose control of intellectual property or controlled unclassified information (CUI), etc. Well, it doesn’t matter where product is developed, produced or used; there are ways to protect what is important without closing borders. The same can be said about the cost-effectiveness of where product is made. Having fewer eggs in any one basket may be a more effective way to mitigate risk than moving everything into one facility, regardless of where it is located. In short, risk has always been, and always will be, one of the considerations when determining what R&D or manufacturing initiatives take place. Small, quiet moves to protect what is important have always been more successful in achieving long-term success than hyped and brash “game-changing” ideas.

Others cannot get the supply chain issues of recent years out of their minds. While Covid impacted everyone everywhere, supply chain problems were not caused by a fundamental issue with the globalization of industry, but rather a singular event that is now, thankfully, mostly behind us.

Meanwhile, I am willing to bet that as the hype and headlines criticizing the global economy circulate, cooler – and quieter – minds are at work refining processes, tightening security and utilizing the best available resources to make an efficient global economy and related global logistics even more so.

Which brings me back to the fact that regardless of headlines or hype, brash and bold comments alike, it is still a small world, after all! Regardless of where you are located, businesses, economies and people need each other more than not. Despite the current environment where so many are focused on headlines rather than results, don’t write off the global economy for electronics – or any industry – quite yet.

On the current state and future of globalization, I am siding with history and decades of experience that show how globalization has only made business, technology and industry more efficient and cost-effective for all.

Peter Bigelow is president of FTG Circuits Haverhill; (imipcb.com); pbigelow@imipcb.com. His column appears monthly.

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