What are the keys to understanding and meeting customer needs?
We go there. We go to the customer’s place. We try to understand their process. We see how they’re assembling the stuff, how they build it, how is it going to be used, mostly just trying to spend time with the customer to understand the real need. I’m an old-fashioned guy; I go to my customers and (have) one-on-one-type interaction. That’s the only way I can really understand their business. You can’t do it electronically. Whether it’s you go to visit them or have them come here so they understand what we do and how we do it. But just try to develop a partnership. We really view our customers as a partnership because we become the manufacturing arm for that company in many cases. Q. How often should you communicate with customers? That depends on the size of the customer and the needs of the customer. A lot of our interaction is driven by the fact that lead times today are so short people aren’t carrying inventory, especially in the last 18 months. With uncertainties, people aren’t hol
