WEBVTT
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00:00:11.199Hello, I'm Philip Stoughton from My House to Yours.
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00:00:13.439Welcome to EMS at Sea Level.
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00:00:16.160I am joined by Nick Wasserman.
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00:00:23.839Nick is the CEO of PTG, uh, used to be Pinnacle Technology Group.
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00:00:30.239Nick, give me a brief introduction to you and the company, and um then we'll dig into a bit of the detail.
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00:00:32.000Give us an idea of the scale as well.
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00:00:32.880Yeah, great.
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00:00:34.320Uh thanks for having me on.
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00:00:47.840Um, yeah, so uh PTG Electronics, uh formerly Pinnacle Technology Group, uh, we made the branding switch as of January 1st, 2026, um, mainly just to uh kind of add clarity to who we are as a business.
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00:00:53.679The the term Pinnacle was overused and was getting lost really in the uh in the ethos of the world.
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00:01:00.880So we um we kind of paid homage by the acronym, but then added the electronics to really kind of cement in who we are and what we do.
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00:01:05.280Um but PTG at its core is a 40-year-old business at this point.
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00:01:08.000Um it we were established in 1984.
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00:01:15.439Um, it was a company that my my father uh took over ownership in 1996, and our family's owned it ever since.
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00:01:27.280Um, as of the last uh three to four years, we've been in a transition period where he's starting to step away and into retirement, and I've kind of taken over the um the day-to-day uh operational business.
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00:01:28.400Yeah.
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00:01:30.400And dad's down in Florida, I think.
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00:01:33.519Yeah, for part of the year, mainly the cold weather months.
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00:01:33.760Yeah.
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00:01:36.879So uh you don't came here much during from October to April.
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00:01:38.239So that's nice.
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00:01:38.879There you go.
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00:01:40.959That gives you a chance to get on with stuff, doesn't it?
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00:01:44.799So let's explore some of the markets and what you're into.
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00:01:49.680You you've recently added a few approvals, which maybe gives you access to some different markets.
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00:01:53.599Give me an idea of the market mix and uh what you specialize in.
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00:02:04.000Yeah, so we've been uh ISO 9001 certified for about 25 years at this point, and we um we historically operated in that commercial and industrial marketplace.
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00:02:09.120Um, we're very diversified in the products and companies that we service, and that's by design.
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00:02:18.319Um, that allows us to gain expertise in multiple areas, but it also um allows us to hedge some of those uh tougher economic times a little bit better.
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00:02:21.039Um and that's that's paid dividends over the years.
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00:02:30.159Um and so um, but most recently, um, and in just as of uh uh uh two weeks ago, we are AS 9100 aerospace certified.
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00:02:36.960So um that's been a strategic initiative that we've been um working on now for about the last year, year and a half.
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00:02:37.680Okay.
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00:02:45.120And really the the idea behind that is um, you know, one, it's a it's it is a good growth market just in general.
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00:02:49.199Um but then also it it really fits our niche and our model better.
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00:02:57.680We're not a super high volume manufacturer, we're really looking for the higher complexity stuff in that yeah, more mid-range volume type of space.
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00:02:59.439Yeah, and that makes sense, doesn't it?
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00:03:13.680You want that challenging work, you want the stuff where the relationship becomes really important, and uh it's not just about scale and shaping every every every cent of the uh of the cost that becomes hugely valuable, doesn't it?
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00:03:21.919Um when you look at that millero space, it's tends to be a little bit more full with the with the uh mill side of things.
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00:03:25.759There's lots going on in the drone space uh in different areas.
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00:03:30.479Is that business that you're looking at and you're starting to see inquiries for?
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00:03:31.520Yeah, yeah.
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00:03:33.759And so that that has been a huge uptick.
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00:03:42.400I mean, we were excited to get into Aero in general, and we've been um our sales efforts has have been kind of been across the board in terms of um anyone in that in that market.
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00:03:46.319Um, but we have seen a significant interest in the drone space.
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00:03:59.759Uh currently we're engaged uh at least at a quoting level with about five different companies that all have kind of their unique spin on drone marketplace, the types of uh, you know, areas again within that that they serve.
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00:04:01.680Um and that's been really, really cool.
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00:04:05.280Uh in quite honestly, you know, we're based here in Southeast Michigan.
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00:04:09.199Um, we've seen a tremendous amount of activity in Michigan.
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00:04:14.000So it seems like that's a uh there's a lot of drone activity specifically here in this state as well.
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00:04:16.240So it's been pretty exciting for us.
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00:04:29.839Yeah, and do you see that as drone companies that were perhaps commercial previously and were much more in the pro-consumer kind of space, moving into the Mil Aero space, or or are they new startups that are very specific to Mil Aero?
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00:04:33.439So yeah, we have we have a couple, we've got a little blend of both.
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00:04:48.560The majority of them, though, are kind of newer to the space, but they have um, you know, in a lot of cases, they they are they are getting supported by either the government or the aerospace industry to kind of continue to uh design and develop their technologies.
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00:04:52.720Um and and so and obviously the demand seems to be pretty good, at least from what we can tell.
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00:04:57.040Obviously, it's very early stages, but um, you know, a lot of upside it seems.
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00:04:59.040Yeah, the demand signals are strong.
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00:05:19.439And Nick, I think it's really interesting when you work with these startups that are entering new spaces and want to scale up, they're the ones that can really benefit from a really strong EMS partnership because you can actually become their manufacturing arm, you can teach them supply chain, you can do everything that allows them to focus on getting the product right and getting their own marketing right.
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00:05:20.240Absolutely.
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00:05:47.120And you know, I sometimes it's you know, it it's it's always nice to get some existing business and bring it in because you know that the demand and the forecasting is there, but we do really like getting into some of these things on the on the front end because it allows us not only to get that relationship very strongly built, but we can play a role in the design for manufacturability, making sure that it's not only achieving the goals that they have set, but it's also manufacturable on a repeatable uh you know date.
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00:05:53.040So that that's that's a a tremendous uh upside for us, you know, getting in on the front end.
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00:05:54.639Yeah, and it makes a big difference.
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00:06:04.480It's not just design for manufacturability, it's designed for manufacturability at the right scale, and that means within your within your model of uh of manufacturing.
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00:06:11.120You've done quite a lot of work there since you took over from your father and focused quite heavily on digital transformation.
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00:06:16.160Does that enable you to be a little bit more agile, a little bit faster with these new products?
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00:06:18.720Because the the ramp demand is quite high.
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00:06:19.680Yeah, yeah.
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00:06:24.399So we've um, you know, I obviously the the AI boom is affecting everybody.
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00:06:31.360Um, you know, we I I will not say we were at the forefront of that, but we we did try to adopt a lot of that as early as possible.
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00:06:39.439And uh a lot of that has been um instituted as of late to try to speed those things up and be able to handle this demand.
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00:06:51.439Um so for instance, we've got um we've been recently engaged with uh new quoting tool that is optimizing AI to do that process significantly faster than we used to.
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00:06:53.600Um and even the onboarding.
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00:07:11.120So once we receive a PO, we've got a it's a prototype bot now that will actually process um all of the customer documentation and it will align it, assign part numbers, and get that whole purchasing, and then um, you know, the the lead time gets started much quicker than it would have historically.
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00:07:13.120Yeah, that makes a huge difference.
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00:07:14.639That's like kind of game changer.
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00:07:19.120I think what's fascinating with AI is it's had so many impacts on our industry.
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00:07:22.720It's it's changing the way we operate, which I think is really exciting.
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00:07:35.040And much as I see success in areas you've seen, like supply chain and the business processes that relate to EMS, we haven't seen it perhaps as much as we'd like to on the factory floor.
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00:07:36.000So that's coming.
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00:07:40.160But the other thing it's done is it's created this hyperscaler demand.
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00:07:50.079And much as you might not be building server boards for AI, the custom the companies that are further or are much larger are doing that.
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00:07:58.160I wonder if there's a trickle-down effect where you see more business that they're perhaps leaving behind as they chase that very, very high volume.
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00:08:12.319You know, I I can't say that I have a I have a direct correlation to that, but it is interesting you bring that up because we have seen a significant increase just in overall activity here over the last, especially, you know, year and a half, almost two years now.
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00:08:29.199Um, I mean, the the demand for quote opportunities and just general interest in either switching or different or or you know, new startups that need uh EMS uh support has been significantly higher than it has, you know, in the past several years combined.
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00:08:37.679So um I I I would assume there's a at least a part of that is because of exactly what you mentioned, but I I don't have any data to back that up exactly.
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00:08:38.559So yeah.
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00:08:54.320And when you look at those new quotes and those new companies that are coming in, having that AI-driven speed to quote, which gives you much faster access to what's available, what's what's on allocation in the bill of materials, is that something that they really value?
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00:08:59.120Are they looking for their are they expecting their quotes to be done and turned around much quicker?
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00:09:01.440And is it like first in best rest?
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00:09:05.440And if you're too late to the party, nobody really wants to hear what you've got to say?
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00:09:09.200Yeah, I mean, there's still a delicate balance between speed and price, right?
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00:09:23.919I mean, we all know that getting getting good, especially when material carry is such a heavy weight in in the overall price point of of an electronics assembly, um, you you really have to be careful how you balance the speed versus the the price that you throw out there.
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00:09:30.799So we can we can do a quote in 48 hours, but it's gonna be list pricing over the internet, and it's probably not gonna be super attractive, right?
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00:09:44.799So um, but but yes, ultimately that what we found is it uh it enables our ability to get that request out to our vendor list is now increased significantly, which allows them to start that clock sooner.
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00:09:53.519So we can we can at least better balance that, getting them a quicker quote with with desirable pricing, um, you know, in a shorter time frame.
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00:09:54.159Yeah.
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00:10:02.399The other thing we've seen with the hyperscalers is an impact on the supply chain um as as you buy materials.
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00:10:06.559We're seeing um blockages in memory, we're seeing semiconductor issues.
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00:10:16.080Recently, I'm starting to hear more about printed circuit board issues, and I think that is a lamina issue rather than the actual printed circuit board capacity.
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00:10:18.879Are those things that are impacting your business?
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00:10:23.120Yeah, I the the mem the memory was obviously kind of the first and foremost.
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00:10:32.320Um it just seems, you know, and then and then it's the trickle-down effect into all of the other parts because the demand is preferenced based upon when you can get those parts.
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00:10:38.480So then the availability of everything else seems to be taking a little bit of a hit kind of, you know, uh after that.
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00:10:55.759But yeah, we've had we've had several customers uh not totally shut down, thankfully, but we are seeing some lengthening of lead times or slight move outs in terms of our production schedule just because things are a little bit late or they're not coming in, you know, the exactly when you it originally anticipated.
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00:11:03.120Um yeah, most recently I was interesting to see the issues with the laminate on the uh the circuit board side.
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00:11:04.639We we do have a nice blend.
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00:11:13.200We get um we do get a percentage of our bear boards here in the United States, um, but fundamentally most of them are built overseas.
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00:11:22.879Um and so that yeah, that FR4 material or the glass issue that they're having, um I can't say I've seen that in my uh history, or at least I don't remember it.
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00:11:26.320So that's a unique uh we're crossing there.
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00:11:29.919So I guess to be determined on exactly what effect that has.
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00:11:35.919Right now, though, we're in at least pretty good uh pretty good spot with regards to our forecasted plan.
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00:11:37.120Yeah, yeah.
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00:11:38.879It is quite surprising.
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00:11:57.440It's not something I've seen in the past, and you know, much as we've decried the reduction of PCB capacity in Europe and in uh uh and in the US as it's all moved to Asia, um it's a surprise that we have the capacity there, but we perhaps can't fill it because of that FR4 material.
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00:12:07.919I don't know what the um capacity of the US to produce FR4 is, but certainly for Europe, most of it's made in uh made in Asia, and that has that has a big effect.
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00:12:19.759Yeah, the the last the last uh data that I had was about four per we do about four percent of our own domestic PCB, true PCB manufacturing, which is obviously a very, very small amount.
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00:12:31.200Where I think at one point it was you know 60, 60 to 70 percent, um many years ago now, but uh yeah, it's uh it it it we rely very heavily on overseas.
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00:12:32.399Yeah, absolutely.
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00:12:39.600I think it was one of those products that shifted overseas very quickly because it was easy to produce and pretty easy to ship around the world.
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00:12:41.519So uh we'll see how that corrects.
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00:12:50.240When you when you think about all those additional bids that you've been you that you've been receiving and quotes you've been doing, do you think some of that is the impact of tariffs?
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00:13:05.440Do you think the the trade um the trade war or the decoupling a little bit and the um swing back from globalization is actually producing more demand for US EMS companies, particularly at your scale?
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00:13:15.840Yeah, I I mean I I do think it at the very least it got people thinking that a second source was more of a fundamental need as opposed to uh maybe a nice to have previously.
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00:13:25.759Um and so I I do see where a lot of that was kind of driven by that uncertainty over the last year with the regard to the tariff um scenarios.
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00:13:43.440But um, you know, it it is nice to see that because obviously we are a sole United States uh company, so we we don't have any kind of an overseas um um support system, and um so having having those opportunities come in is really great, and and we have seen uh a few of them transition too.
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00:13:49.519So um I do think at some levels some of that might have just been quoting activity for the sake of quoting activity, yeah.
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00:13:57.120Um, but at the same time, it got people thinking about it, which I do believe is is a good thing for the longevity of our industry as a whole.
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00:14:02.799I mean, especially you consider how everything anymore has circuit circuitry and and intelligence in it.
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00:14:05.039So it's the demand's only going up.
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00:14:08.559So, you know, having having the ability to balance that is important.
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00:14:09.360Yeah.
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00:14:24.320What about foreign companies like European companies that think, okay, well, we're manufacturing some of our products inside um inside Asia, some inside Europe, but with the current environment, we perhaps need a little bit of manufacturing in the U.S.
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00:14:26.720Are you seeing companies from outside the U.S.
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00:14:27.440come to you?
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00:14:53.120Yeah, in in fact, we do have we have a current opportunity now that we're we're still in the the quoting stages of um a company out of Europe that has uh asked us to quote their product, and um all you know, their whole intent would be for the product to be built here in America, and then they have a um a sales office set up here, and um we would essentially kind of house that product for them, and then they would use a distribution company to ship that off elsewhere.
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00:15:00.240But that was uh I I was excited to see that too, and it and it seemed like it was a kind of a smart move because they that's how they've set their business up.
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00:15:06.799They have an Asian arm, a European arm, and now a North American arm, which I think is going to be really great for them long term.
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00:15:21.200And that's really great for you, Nick, because it really shows you a skill in terms of not just how you manufacture, about that kind of configure to order, build-to-order kind of model where where you're actually the front end of the fulfillment as well at the at that end.
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00:15:26.240It feels very much like that's some of the true turnkey value of EMS.
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00:15:34.080Yeah, and really that's that's what we've always kind of prided ourselves on is doing as much as the customer needs us to do for them.
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00:15:39.039So um, you know, this isn't our first time around with uh almost kind of full-blown fulfillment.
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00:15:43.440I mean, we've had we had a customer in the past that they told us all they wanted to do is cash checks.
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00:15:51.200So we actually had a stockpile of product and we would ship it, we shipped it around the country to uh individual customers, which was kind of unique.
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00:15:53.600We had our pack slips had their logo on it.
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00:15:57.039I mean, it was it was kind of fully fully done, which is interesting.
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00:16:10.320Yeah, and I do think it's really neat, and it actually shows a a great degree of confidence in what you're doing if you if your um if your customer is happy for you to ship direct to their customer.
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00:16:13.039That shows a real com commitment to that partnership.
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00:16:18.960And those those partnerships are where you really add value and you really build those sticky relationships.
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00:16:21.919So that's uh that's super important and super valuable.
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00:16:24.399Nick, congratulations on what you're doing.
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00:16:31.039Keep doing it, keep uh keep keep us informed of uh new developments, and I look forward to chatting again to you soon.
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00:16:32.480But thanks so much for your time.
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00:16:34.240Thank you for having me.
