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December 2016 • The PCB Magazine 45 My closing thought is that it truly is diffi- cult to reach a comprehensive level of under- standing of both the customer's needs and the needs of PCB manufacturing. The information that is easily obtained is often just skimming the surface of the full picture. Salespeople continu- ously search out opportunities to interact with their customers outside of the conference room. Those relaxed conversations often offer the best glimpses into what people really need from their salesperson. There is no roadmap to use; every customer has different needs. If you attend an IPC show, SMTA expo, IPC Designers Council meeting or even Geek-A-Palooza, there is no shortage of salespeople trying to increase their technical knowledge while getting to know oth - ers. I strongly encourage PCB users and PCB manufacturers to do the same. The more we all know about each other's needs, the stronger the relationships will be for everyone. PCB Tara Dunn is the president of Omni PCB. To contact Dunn, or read past columns, click here. A GLIMPSE INTO PCB SALES • Stop relying on price to differentiate and win the order • Close more business in a timely manner • Identify customers that find value in the quality, customer services, and fast response that we offer rather than sell on price. To recap: Differentiate the manufacturer's of- fering so the comparable factor between offers is not price alone. Interestingly, this is like the message above also: Advocate for value of the manufacturer's strengths with your customers. Summarizing the feedback from both cus- tomers and manufacturers, the most successful PCB salespeople are organized, take a genuine interest in their customers' needs and business challenges, have a better than average under- standing of the PCB industry, fully understand the manufacturer's strengths and capabilities and advocate for both to find the best solution. There is room for improvement by being more proactive in solving your customers' challenges and in understanding the differentiating value of the manufacturer to sell on total value rather than price. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want. —Zig Ziglar To spur significant innovation and growth in advanced manufacturing, as well as save over $100 billion an- nually, U.S. industry must rectify cur- rently unmet needs for measurement science and "proof-of-concept" dem- onstrations of emerging technologies. This is the overall conclusion reached by economic studies funded by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of four advanced manufactur- ing areas used to create everything from automo- bile composites to zero-noise headsets. For each of the four advanced manufacturing technologies studied, the estimated annual cost savings and percentage reduction in production costs are: • Additive manufacturing: $4.1 billion, 18.3% • Advanced robotics and automation: $40.1 billion, 5.3% • Roll-to-roll manufacturing: $400 million, 14.7% • Smart manufacturing: $57.4 billion, 3.2% The researchers stated that their studies only looked at benefits directly attributable to closing the identified technical gaps in each sector; there- fore, the impact estimates are conservative. Closing Tech Gaps Can Fortify Advanced Manufacturing and Save $100 Billion Annually