Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1447212
FEBRUARY 2022 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 9 of the structure. Finally, the coated, air-tight nylon is added to enclose the shape defined by the straps. Everything hangs from the top ring; where the ring goes, so the bal- loon follows. at's why you always see ground crews holding a rope that goes to the top of the bal- loon—they're controlling the top ring. To fly, the balloon's pilot adds heat to the inside of the balloon enve- lope, creating li through convection. Once the warm air is inside the bal- loon envelope, the nylon becomes rigid and remarkably inflexible. With 90,000 cubic feet of space to cover when heat is applied by the burner, there is a distinct lag time between applying heat and getting a response in the flight of the balloon. irty seconds isn't out of the ordinary, in fact. Stu- dent pilots have a tendency at first to create a dangerous oscillation in the balloons' flight by pouring on too much heat while the balloon is still reacting, and then being forced to let heat out of the top vent to slow the ascent. Inflation and upward pressure are the per- fect metaphors for this issue of SMT007 Mag- azine. e global economy, because of gigan- tic shis in supply, demand, and distribution in the wake of the COVID pandemic, is on the rise. Demand for product is huge, as is the demand for upstream materials and compo- nents. Of course, we have labor shortages and wage pressures to account for. As a result, this rapid increase in demand, applied to a fixed- capacity supply chain, exerts tremendous upward pressure on pricing. It's just like hitting the burner on a hot air balloon that heats up the fixed capacity of the balloon envelope and drives the whole contraption upward. In this issue, we look at how these upward pressures on input costs are passing through pricing to your customers. Is there room in your margins to absorb these cost increases? Are there ways to change what you do or how you do it, so that you can minimize the price increases and possibly gain an extra level of competitiveness? How do you do your part not to overcorrect? While we explore these top- ics inside this issue, I also want to share some additional perspective. In a recent conversation with I-Connect007, IPC Chief Economist Shawn DuBravac, noted, "If you look at the research that IPC is publish- ing every month, companies report that orders are up. But at the same time, costs are up and profit margins are down. So, they probably haven't raised prices as much as they should to offset higher costs." To use the balloon metaphor, we're not done pouring heat into that balloon. DuBravac also states later in that conversation, "On top of that, I don't think we've seen the end of price increases. Contracts needed to be rewritten. And companies needed to see if the cost increases they were facing were tem-