Conversations With...Trish Hackett, Vector Defense Technologies

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 | Dan Beaulieu, DB Management Group

TRISH HACKETT

Vector Defense Technologies Founder and President Trish Hackett is a woman on the move. She is the type of person who, when she wants something done, she gets out there and does it herself.

Take for example, the way Hackett founded Vector Defense, which provides military customers everything from bare board fabrication to electronic assemblies, box-builds and much more.

She pursued her own ITAR certification when her manufacturing partners just weren't stepping up. And with that, she was off and running. Hackett certainly takes care of business.

Hackett has made sure that her company has all the business advantages she can give it. Vector Defense is an SBA certified HUBZone, and a woman-owned small disadvantaged business. 

I recently caught up with Hackett and sat down for a chat, and the recorder rolled.

DAN BEAULIEU: Hi, Trish. Thanks for talking to me today. You and I have known each other a long time. I am happy to get a chance to sit down with you and really get your story.

TRISH HACKETT: Happy to be here, Dan. Thanks for the opportunity.

DAN: Let's talk about Vector Defense Technology. Who is Vector Defense and what do they do?

TRISH: Vector Defense Technologies has been in business for 18 years. We are a unique company with a unique business model. We are an information and technology solutions company. We provide electronic products and system integration services specializing in "everything PCB." Not only do we fabricate bare boards, but we supply and integrate the entire turn-key electronic system - electronic assemblies, box-builds and all the interface devices including microelectronics technology. Our PCB fabrication and assemblies consist of rigid PCB, flex, and rigid-flex technology. We supply commercial and military/defense products to the federal government and to OEMs.

Having been in this business since the '70s even prior to Vector Defense, there is a long history of experience and proven expertise that we bring to the table. But at the same time, we have always recognized that to keep up with the demands of a competitive and fast moving market, we have to be flexible and be able to provide our customers with what they need, when they need it. So we also have what we consider to be a "young" business outlook. We love providing out-of-the-box solutions, figuring out what our customers need and providing it. Our customers tell us that we "get it" and "make it happen" to perfection. That's about as high a compliment as one can get in business.

DAN: I would agree with that. Trish. So, where did the inspiration come from to create this type of company?

TRISH:  It was actually a natural progression from our military/defense C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications Computers, Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance) customers' requirements and needs. Our bare board performance over time was such an asset to Harris Corporation that they asked us to participate in a pilot program. We participated in the competition and won the contract to supply the entire bill of materials for the project. We were the first supplier/manufacturer in the early '90s to create and supply what we then called the "Demand Pull Production System," or pure Kanban system.

Vector was credited with saving Harris over $3 million within the first two years of our partnership. In fact, it worked so well that one of the Harris vice presidents went on record saying, "Vector's unsolicited development of a unique software program which monitored and analyzed our weekly inputs of data, and therefore predicted (precisely within 98% accuracy) our future requirements, has been far more accurate than our own sales forecasts. In addition, Vector's Program Management Function of managing the material pipeline resulted in never missing a delivery, as opposed to five production shutdowns per week due to material shortages (and problems) prior to the program inception."  

Since it was a flight simulation board and assembly, the content was made up of state-of-the-art components and included semiconductors, which we purchased directly from Motorola, Toshiba, TI, Samsung, IBM, Lattice, Amp and other such manufacturers. Utilizing our economies of scale, we had great buying power. Both Harris and other Vector customers benefited from this, as well as our quality and technology performance. This project became the foundation of who we are today.

DAN: Trish, please explain a bit more about Vector's full product profile.

TRISH: On a regular basis, we provide turnkey electronic systems, sub-assemblies, box-builds, backplane assemblies and cable assemblies. Our products include quick-turn standard technology PCBs and assemblies of 1-14 layers, prototype to volume manufacturing services, and HDI products including microelectronics, sub-.001" lines/spaces, blind and buried vias, microvias, heavy copper, and others.  We specialize in Mil-spec PCBs and assemblies, as well as RF microwave products. We also provide thin film technology and assembly services: substrates, die attach/flip chip, BGA, dense cores, and MMICs.  

DAN: Trish, how did you get into electronic sales and eventually building this company?

TRISH: In college, I worked for a components corporation that specialized in build-to-print items for United Technologies Defense and Military products. I worked for a number of companies before going out on my own, which had always been my goal.

DAN: Your office is in Florida, but is where is the bulk of your customer base located? 

TRISH: We are a national company. We have customers throughout North America and we are looking at the possibility of exporting globally. We are currently working on some opportunities and global business analysis which may involve some ITAR agreements that are specific to the global market - such things as TAAs (technical assistance agreements) that deal with permission from the U.S. federal government to discuss and share regulated technical data with overseas contacts. We have been ITAR registered as both a manufacturer and broker for over nine years, and this gives us a lot of leverage, not to mention credibility, to work on a global level.

DAN: Although right now things are getting better, we have been through a pretty bad couple of years. How has your company been effected by these past couple of years?

TRISH: We have enough experience in this industry to know that our business will always be cyclical. We made it through the downturn of '08/'09 with a lot of hard work, by consolidating some overlap areas to bring down expenses, and admittedly, with some luck. I am happy to say it worked out. 2010 was a banner year for us, showing considerable growth.

DAN: I feel compelled to make this observation: You are the owner of a business in a male-dominated industry, and you entered into this business when virtually no females were doing anything close to what you now do. What has been your experience from that perspective?

TRISH: Dan, you know me. The "woman thing" has never really bothered me. You certainly know it's there, which was especially true when I started in this industry. But I just worked through it. I have always found that working hard and doing a good job and giving your customers what they want creates respect. If you can provide your customers with a good, solid, dependable, reliable, credible solution, they will buy from you. They will work with you no matter what. Business is business. Do a good job and you will be rewarded with unbiased respect.

DAN: Well said. Kudos to you for taking that sound approach, even back when things were markedly less diverse in business. So, where is Vector headed? I know that your son Zach is now on board with you at Vector. Congratulations! How do you see things as you look to the future?

TRISH: That's right. Zach, who is a physicist by education and training, is now our vice president. He's young, intelligent and assertive. He has been a great asset to our company. His vision and his technical team's vision for Vector's global footprint is already beginning to influence and expand our reach and accomplishments. They are working with some leaders within our industry on some exciting R&D projects - cool stuff.

DAN: That sounds interesting. You've piqued my curiosity.

TRISH: These are exciting times technologically speaking. And there are a lot of things that we are working on right now. We enjoy manufacturing, integrating and selling the newest, sexiest, hottest technologies, and right now we are getting involved in printed electronics, microelectronics with line widths down below .001", HDI, hybrids and some RFID on both commercial and defense applications. We read, study and do research on what is coming down the pipeline in the industry so we can be prepared to provide it to our customers. We position ourselves to be our customers' technical consultants.

DAN: Before we wrap this up, are there any last words you'd like to leave with our readers? 

TRISH: Absolutely!  Vector Defense Technology is genuinely unique as a supplier. We are a group of individuals who love what we do, and we feel that it shows in everything that we do!  We have enough experience to know that we create our own destiny in business, and we have the wherewithal, and track record, to confidently obtain what we set out to achieve. We make no excuses, but rather, provide solutions.

We understand fluid business models and know how to adapt to our customers' needs. We eliminate the issues that make buyers' and engineers' jobs harder by respecting the value of our customer's time, by providing superior product at a competitive price, and by responding quickly, accurately and pleasantly to all of our customers' needs. We are truly at our best when doing our best for our customers.

DAN: Trish, once again, thanks for your time. It was great talking to you.

TRISH: Thank you, Dan. This was fun.

For more information about Vector Defense Technology, go to www.vectordefense.com.