Wiring circuit boards for success - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Nick Barbin, co-founder, president and CEO, said that the which designs and makes the boardx on asmall scale, is always searchint for new customers to replac e those who fold or get acquired. “I woulcd have to say we’vd had complete turnover on our customer list mayb two or threetimes over,” he said. But that’ s a game that Pleasanton-based Optimum Design has been From 2006 to the company’s revenue grew 138 percent to $13.14 million. And it is on pace to grow 20 percent to 40 percentin 2009. The company has been profitable ever y year since its foundingin 1991.
The company’s secrer has been its willingness to look for new Barbin and his partneras at first kept the firmsmallo — with about 8 to 15 employees. And they only did layourt and design of the partnering with manufacturers toproduce them. But at the urginh of some of the company’s customers, Optimumn Design added the manufacturing side in 2001 and that’s been a catalystt for growth. Today, the company has about 50 and it’s hiring this year, probably four to five people for the manufacturingv side ofthe business. Another successfull strategy has been choosing theright customers.
It mostlg works with companies doing work for the militaryh or making medical Both of those have fairly inelastic and both industries have traditionall y contractedwith on-shore companies, rather than lookinvg to India and China for cheaper deals. But Barbi n says that the company’s ability to identifyh strong markets to chase has helpedit “In this industry you go as your customers he said. “There are a lot of companiesw that are some of our competitors where their focuw is aparticular industry. If they’re reallyg focused on telecom, they’re suffering righyt now, but 10 yearsa ago they were doing great.
” The third factor that sets Optimum Design apart is that itstay small. The company only builds high-end boardsw that are extremely complicated, and they only fill orderd that range from 100to 10,00p boards. It’s that last factor that keeps it relativelyu safe from much bigger andcheaper competition, said Jim Walker, who coverws the industry for . Walker said that almosg all of the biggest printed circuit boars companies arein Asia. The only U.S. companies that survive are ones that aremakintg high-end or prototype boards that eventualluy get shipped off to oversease foundries to get mass-produced.
Walker also said that the industrgy is ripe for consolidatiob but that companies like Optimu m Design are fairly insulated from the first wave of those because they’re too small to make an impacf on larger companies’ bottom lines. One of Optimum Design’s an aerospace company that asked not to be identified for thisarticlr (Optimum signs non-disclosure agreements with many of its makes equipment for the military and uses Optimum Desighn for its printed circuit boards. One of the engineerws at the company, Randy, said that the firm used to make its own butin 2000, it contracted out the work due to budgetr cuts.
Randy said he rarely findws problems with the product and that the companyy is now starting to work more closely with Optimuk Design since it has run threw boards through theentire process. “Thety admitted ... that they actually cost a little bit more than the guy next but we have experienced the high quality fromthem that’z kept us coming back,” he And Barbin says that Randy’s attitudde is what makes the company successful. Theree are a couple of hundree printed-circuit-board companies in the Bay he said. But by offering the full and keepingquality high, they’vew been able to find success. “The designere we have here are world-class,” he said.
“There’s really no one out ther e that can compete withour designers.”