The Cutting Edge...of Wearable Electronics

In this issue, we will be exploring the world of wearable electronics.  While wearable electronics has been around for quite some time in the form of hearing aids, pacemakers, and other such devices, there has been a large number of new electronics that have made their way into retail markets in recent years.  A lot of the new electronics are designed for the health industry to be paired with a smartphone or tablet.  At the last Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, there was an entire section devoted to wearable electronics in the health and fitness industry that included pedometers, heart monitors, blood pressure monitors, glucose monitoring systems, and medication monitoring devices.  These devices can empower individuals to take a more active role in their personal health by keeping track of their vitals and exercise, and it can also be accessed by their doctor to track changes in the patient's body that may pose future issues. 

In addition to the health-based wearable electronics, there are also a number of augmented reality based wearable electronics.  Several companies have now come out with some sort of goggle type of heads up display that can be coupled with a smartphone for use.  These devices have the capability to do such things as make phone calls, text, give directions, and augment the visual world with information including the history of a given building or city, places to eat and stay, or to pinpoint friends in the area.  Whether these devices supersede current smart phone devices remains to be seen, but the current investment in this market would indicate that there is a great interest in developing these devices for the retail market.

Besides the two market segments that were mentioned above, there are also a number of other areas where wearable electronics are vying for attention such as incorporating charging ability into bags and clothing, enabling wearables to control electronic devices via Bluetooth (like gloves, jackets, and bags), and incorporating various types of sensors into clothing and gear to monitor the environment for dangerous conditions.  Taiyo America is keeping abreast of the newest technologies to come to market, and the wearable electronics market looks like one to keep an eye on for the future.   

Sincerely,

Josh Goldberg

Marketing Specialist

For readers that are interested in information regarding these exciting technologies, the materials, processes, or our participation, please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or at 775.885.9959, x. 132. 

"Checking out our Customers"

Prototron Circuits, Redmond Washington and Tucson Arizona

A talk with Dave Ryder, President and Founder

We thought it would be fun to visit with our long time customers to see what they are up to and get their feedback as to how we are doing. So to kick things off we decided to talk to Dave Ryder owner of Prototron Circuits. In business for over 27 years Prototron Circuits specializes in quick turn prototype business, especially high mix/low volume work. With two locations: Redmond, Washington and Tucson, Arizona and a national sales team of 10 direct sales professionals Prototron deals with literally 100's of customers providing them with very high-end customer service including 98% on-time delivery and quality.

Dan: Great talking to you today Dave, one of the reasons we wanted to start this series with you was that we noticed that you really take advantage of our series of various colored products.

Dave: Absolutely, we've even given away a fan of small circuit boards highlighting all of the colors we can offer because they are made available to us by Taiyo. In fact these little items have become part of our trade mark literature.

Dan: Why is this so important to you guys?

Dave: Because it represents giving the customers what they want, which is what we at Prototron are all about.  If a customer wants his boards in 24 hours we will do that for him. If she wants her boards with purple solder mask or red solder mask then we are thrilled to give her want she wants. This is what the colors represent to us.

Dan: I notice that you call yourselves "America's Board Shop", what does that mean to you?

Dave: It means everything to us. There has been so much contracting of our industry here in the United States that we felt that we had to take a stand, we had to declare ourselves on one side or the other and we came down on the side of the U.S. We are proud to call ourselves America's Board Shop. And by the way this is a strong reason why we work with Taiyo, yes we know that you are a Japanese owned company but what we really like is that we know your products are fabricated right here in the United States. This is critical to us; we buy American products whenever possible.

Dan: How is business going for you guys so far this year?

Dave: Business has been very strong for us. We have been hitting our numbers, so we can't complain.

Dan: That sounds good, in fact a little surprising, do you think there is some room for optimism then?

Dave: Yes I do. I think that those companies who are willing to get out there and try, those who are willing to invest in marketing and sales people and who make sure that their performance is up to par will do better this year and for the next few years for that matter.

Dan: Sounds good. Just one more question then. What do you think we at Taiyo can do for you and your company?

Dave: I'm glad you asked that. I have a couple of ideas. First is please keep making those colored masks, we really use those, secondly keep making your products here in the United States, we need as strong a vendor base as possible, and finally, keep working and perfecting that Direct Imaging solder mask, that would be a big help to us.

Dan: Okay got it. Dave thanks for taking the time today and good luck with the rest of the year.

For more information visit: www.prototron.com