Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1236528
92 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2020 the excuses, "But we can't fly, but we can't be in front of customers," that kind of thing. And I say, "Find a way, find a way. It's a good time to catch up on your marketing. It's a good time to learn social media if you don't know it. Reach out to your customers; chances are they're all probably working out of their home as well." There are shortages right now. Actually, the domestic companies I work with are very busy. I mostly work with salespeople and company presidents, and I'm telling them, "Try as much as possible to keep business as usual and not get all around the axle of what's going on in the world. We know what we can do, what we can do of obeying the rules. On the same token, if we get creative and innovative, we can get through this. And I believe in the end it's going to be a better world. And a better economy, especially in our space." So, that's pretty much it. That's the message I'm getting out there. Johnson: In your role as a consultant, your job essentially is to provide guidance and coach- ing and help with direction. What sort of mes- sages would you like to share with the industry around this issue? Beaulieu: This is my theory: The world is flat- tening. As Thomas Friedman said 15 years ago, now, even more than ever, people are go- ing where they need to go. We found out how big a part of our industry China is, for exam- ple. And what happens if China is excluded. I think what we have to understand is it's a global economy. Frankly, I think we went too far with China. I think China is necessary, Asia is necessary, Europe is necessary, Vietnam is coming on, the world is flattening. We're in a global economy, and this is going to drive it to that even more. And my message is to work with that. To make sure our domestic compa- nies are able to service the domestic economy. They will probably start selling to other coun- tries, as well, like Europe. I think of that. I also think that we have a warning here; "We probably went too far with dependency on China," which is kind of the bleeding obvious. But we need to look at pre- serving our culture as well as our dollar. I used to say, and I'll say it now; although we don't sell Blu-ray players very much, but we really need a $20 Blu-ray player, when we will pay $60 for it, as an example. Companies were do- ing anything to get 3 cents off a circuit board, to the extent that it hurt our domestic business as well. Where now our defense department, it has a shortage of American circuit board companies that can build ITAR boards, that can build defense and aerospace boards. So, I think we're going to have to be a little more careful about that once we come out of this cri- sis. And I think that's really important. I'm not saying to avoid buying from China. I think China is critical or Vietnam, or Taiwan, or India. I'm just saying we have to be in mod- eration on how much we do there. There are products they can do for us. There are also products that we should be doing here, and we should have done a better job of sustaining, particularly those products that can only be built in the United States. That's the message I'm giving, particularly when I talk to com- pany owners and presidents. And I do try to shout that out as much as I can. I'm probably ineffective to the large guys. Because the large OEMs really did this, really were the ones who put 90% of our business in China. I think they have to be careful about sustaining the Ameri- can supply chain as well. Johnson: Dan, what's your greatest concern right now? Beaulieu: My greatest concern is more person- al, to be blunt. Let's get that out of the way. I have a kid in Ohio and one in Connecticut. I have a 92-year-old mother, so that's personal. And not only, of course, for their health, but for their own economy. Who knows what's go- ing to happen? So, that's my greatest concern, as I'm sure everybody who's listening to this is their greatest concern. If we want to talk about the PCB industry... Boy, I don't want to sound rose-tinted glasses, but I think we're going to come out of this okay. I don't think it's going to be forever. I don't think it's going to be as