From the late 90s to the mid-2000s, I had a front-row seat to the immense global pressures facing US-based manufacturers while running operations for Paramit Corporation, a Silicon Valley high-tech manufacturing company. Despite those headwinds, we grew Paramit from $12 million to $100 million, eventually leading to a $1 billion acquisition. It was a true business and financial success story, but the path was far from smooth.
So, how did we make it?
- FOCUSED ON CORE STRENGTHS: We doubled down on our highly skilled team, robust processes, specialized equipment, and custom software, enabling us to build complex products that offshore competitors simply couldn’t handle.
- CULTIVATED “A BIAS FOR ACTION” AND ADAPTATION: When 40% of our high-tech business moved to China, we acted fast. We tightened belts, made difficult but necessary layoffs, and critically, made a hard pivot to medical device manufacturing.
- EMBRACED COMPLEXITY: Our pivot to complex medical devices, including achieving ISO 13485 compliance, took over two years. These highly specialized products were difficult to offshore, providing a critical differentiator and higher profit margins.
Unfortunately, many other US manufacturers couldn’t navigate this era and went out of business. I believe the geopolitical challenges we face now are a direct consequence of short-term financial decisions over the last three decades, where corporate profits overshadowed our domestic manufacturing base.
Where would we be now if stronger policies had been in place earlier?
With Gratitude:
Special thanks to Billoo Rataul, Carl Chun, George Hoxsey, Jeff Johnson, Eri Bira, Mano Aryapour, Francesco Grieco, Bob Daniel, Jeanne Lim-Biz, Tony Yang, and the entire Paramit team! Your dedication made this possible.
I would not have been able to start Product Realization Group without the invaluable experiences gained at Paramit.
