Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1236528
60 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2020 Miller: The only thing I would say is that we know that a lot of our customers have been im- pacted by this, and they aren't typically set up to work from home. We've seen projects that have been slowed in pace because they're try- ing to get their employees set up. Even on the financial side of the business, we've seen kind of an increase in the overdue payments because customers' accounting departments aren't set up to deal with things from home. We're keep- ing a close eye on that aspect of the business as well. I probably get three or four letters a day from customers asking for feedback on how COVID-19 is affecting our business. Is it going to create any delays for our customers? Some are surveys, and some are just quick email re- sponses, and I'm happy to report that it's really not affecting our business or how we support our customers. Shaughnessy: Do you have anything that you'd like to share with the rest of the industry? Miller: Just a little story. We've been telling our employees not to travel or go out. Here's one of the things we did as a company: We've instituted a policy to extend to employees some additional funding of $250 per employee to shop from home as a way to encourage them not to go out in pub- lic or the shopping center and put themselves at risk. We've tried to be progressive in that way and really encourage our employees. We keep re- minding them, "You're the front line for us. Take care of yourselves, don't put yourselves at risk, wash your hands, follow the guidelines, and now you can shop at home for a bit." Shaughnessy: Great idea. It's all about every- body helping each other. Miller: Right, especially in these difficult times. Shaughnessy: What would you say is your great- est concern right now? Miller: We're one of the largest independent de- sign service bureaus in the country, as you know, and we touch on a lot of industries. I think the biggest concern is how long this COVID-19 pan- demic will last. Right now, we have a vision of it being a month out or maybe six weeks out. If it extends a lot longer, I'm concerned about the viability of our customers. Fortunately, we do a fair amount of work for the defense industry, and we do some work for the automotive, medi- cal, and data and telecom industries. We're distributed pretty well, and that gives us a lot of buoyancy in these rough waters to hopefully ride this out. But we are seeing some customers pull back on projects, which is to be expected as they refocus their priorities. I expect that's going to continue, but I'm hopeful that for everybody's benefit that this doesn't extend for too long and lead us into a real recession. Shaughnessy: I think we all agree on that. Is there anything else you'd like to share with the industry? Any last thoughts? Miller: We're here. If customers are in a bind, and they've had difficulty with keeping their schedules on schedule due to the disruption of this, if we can be of any help—and I'm not try- ing to turn this into a plug—but we're here, and we can help to keep our customer's schedules on schedule; we're there for them. I think that's the biggest thing; we're all trying to help each other out through this, and if there's something we can do to help some company out, just talk to them. Shaughnessy: All right. Scott, I appreciate your time. I know you have a lot of work to do, so I appreciate it. Good luck with everything. Miller: Thank you very much, Andy. Shaughnessy: Again, I've been speaking with Scott Miller of Freedom CAD. I'm Andy Shaugh- nessy for I-Connect007. Thanks for listening. PCB007