Business in America today is akin to a game of speed chess, where the matches are over in minutes. Success requires players to make lightning-fast calculations. But, instead of kings, queens, rooks, and pawns, companies are strategically moving to address tariffs, supply chain issues, long lead times, inflation, customer demand, and regulatory developments. These and other potential hurdles require decisiveness, vision, and planning for the months and years ahead. One wrong move, and it’s over.
Making the right decisions is especially important in electronics. We learned many lessons during the recent pandemic, and one of the most telling was what happens when the world has a shortage of chips.
Strengthening supply chains
Seeing that a profusion of chips is at the heart of such products as cars, manufacturing machinery, medical equipment, and computers, manufacturers of these products found that they could not complete them, let alone sell them. As for the chips that could be sourced, logistics, supply issues, and long wait times for overseas cargo shipping slowed their delivery even further.
This led to the creation of the CHIPS and Science Act in 2022, and the federal government’s authorizing almost $300 billion “to carry out activities relating to the creation of incentives to produce semiconductors in the United States,” according to Congress.
“Right now, we are getting a lot of projects, customers, and inquiries. Pretty much everybody wants to stay out of China and Taiwan because of the geopolitical issues,” says Chris Dickey. As Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Plano, Texas-based SVTronics, Inc., Chris has seen his share of market shifts over the years.
With an eye on its 30th anniversary in 2026, SVTronics is a premier American advanced technology manufacturer. Providing the highest-quality products and services to its clients, the company is organized into four business groups: electronics contract manufacturing; military/aerospace/government; cable and wire harness; and engineering services.
Through these units, SVTronics offers automated surface-mount technology (SMT) assembly lines, 3D solder paste inspection, advanced test capabilities, tactical rugged computing, systems integration, military cables and harnesses, schematics capture and printed circuit board (PCB) layout, SolidWorks modeling and rendering, electrical testing, and many other products and services.
Build America, Buy America
Responsible for increasing sales leadership, expanding customer relations, and “increasing the alignment between business growth and the SVTronics production team,” Chris says one of his biggest responsibilities is making the company’s supply chains more robust and not dependent on tariffs, which can fluctuate.
Enacted in late 2021 as a key part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act mandate required steel, iron, construction materials, and manufactured products (used for federal financial assistance programs) to be produced in the United States. BABA applies to projects such as airports, public transportation, and highways, and Chris says plenty of customers are focusing on Made-in-America products. SVTronics is still acquiring new customers through former President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, including some Texas-based semiconductor companies seeking funding, resulting in new growth for the company.
Speed and simplicity
Repeat and new clients alike choose SVTronics for many reasons, including its outstanding PCB manufacturing capabilities and adherence to strict compliance, laws, regulations, and security standards. These include International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), as set by the U.S. Department of State. But one of the greatest advantages of working with the team at SVTronics is the company’s online ordering system. In just seconds, customers can get quotes for all their custom PCB assembly needs.
Through the company’s Online Ordering Instant Quote system, clients can request PCB assembly for prototyping or high-volume production through an efficient, easy-to-use platform. By simply dragging and dropping Gerber and ODB++ files—a proprietary CAD-to-CAM data exchange format—clients can use the Quick Price tool to immediately calculate circuit board assembly and manufacturing project costs and timelines.
“We’re getting positive feedback,” says Chris of the online ordering system. “It’s quick, convenient, and provides fair pricing.” Promoting the online tool for the past several months, the company has teamed up with a digital marketing firm and is using email marketing and social media to drive traffic to the site.
“It’s simple to use,” comments Chris. “Customers can just drag-and-drop to upload. The software will segregate the Gerbers and build materials. It does it all for you.” All clients need to do is enter quantities and how fast they need delivery, and they will get pricing.
Although still in its infancy, the company’s online ordering system shows promise for the company and clients alike. “We are going to look at possibly building some scripts that will integrate that into our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system,” Chris shares. This will automate steps in the process, such as building materials, drawings, and routing, and get them directly to Material Requirements Planning (MRP) so procurement can kick off. “I would love to automate a large portion, if not all of that, because what we do is so labor-intensive.”
The road ahead
Continuing to work with customers across a range of sectors, including transportation, communications, energy, computing, and industrial, SVTronics is seeing increased demand from the military/U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). Due to the sensitive nature of the projects, he cannot say specifically what the technology is being used for. “Some of the projects we’ve worked on will have five or six different EMS providers working on small bits of it, because they don’t want any one customer to have all the information.”
In the coming years, the company will continue to procure as much as possible stateside. This is admittedly a challenge, with most electronic components still manufactured in Asia. And since it takes years and billions of dollars to build, equip, staff, and get production facilities in America up and running, the vision is long-term—but it is one that SVTronics, with its expertise, drive, and deep level of commitment to its clients, can achieve.
