IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1531444
IPC COMMUNITY 12 WINTER 2025 Barbara describes how she met the needs of a chang- ing industry while outpacing her competitors. "I went in a direction that my competitors didn't," she says. "Most people were chasing the IC market, and I entered the metal stamping market. They were all fighting for that same piece of pie, so I went toward the metal stamp- ings and got away from the com- petitive IC stuff. I did very well in that market during the '90s. Even today, we still do a lot of metal parts, but we do a lot of ICs as well." As any business owner knows, unforeseen events require companies to pivot and adjust to various challenges. The most formidable challenge for Mid-America Taping and Reeling was losing a signifi- cant client, Motorola. "We were doing a lot of metal stamping for Motorola's cellphones," Barbara says. "We had loca- tions in Florida and Illinois, where Motorola was headquartered. We did a lot of business for them until they packed their bags and moved to China. It was devastating. There was a vast network of compa- nies in the Chicagoland area living off the Motorola build, and when that went away, we had to reinvent ourselves quickly." Her company adjusted to the loss of such a large client by making "a quick turn and going automotive instead of focusing on cellphones because that "Most people were chasing the IC market … so I went toward the metal stampings. I did very well in that market …" —Barbara Pauls