Ray Bellavance, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing, MicroCare Corporation

Has inflation or higher interest rates caused a slowdown in 2023, and are you expecting a rebound in business in 2024?
The inflation and the higher interest have overall impacted the worldwide activity of the industry and the electronic market in particular.

The slowdown in activity was not equal in all domains, which has allowed to dampen the final impact on the sales of PROTAVIC INTERNATIONAL. For instance, the electronic consumer market suffered more in 2023 in terms of activity whereas E-mobility and power electronic continue to grow, thanks to the low carbon energy transition!

The outlook for 2024 is a slow recovery of the activity in those sectors impacted the most in 2023 and an acceleration of the growth for the other sectors. The interest rate and the inflation give sign of stability on the first half of 2024 but a backward evolution is yet to be expected.

Will you be launching new products or services in 2024?
The objective of PROTAVIC INTERNATIONAL is to focus on the key sectors where the activity is expected to continue growing like Power Electronics or Solar Energy. Besides these sectors, case by case approach prevails depending on the new product development potential. In terms of longer term development, the emphasis is given to environmentally friendly products like low temperature curing adhesives or like biobased polymer based formulations.

Have supply chain shortages caused problems, if so, what has your team done to reduce issues for 2024?
Higher inventory was the temporary solution to overcome the shortages in raw materials or in specific consumables. This trend is smoothly fading away as the situation has improved in 2023.

In 2024, the inventory level is expected to be reduced in comparison with 2023, however the total cost of supply chain is going to stay high. Besides the supply chain, the overall sustainability of supply for specific raw materials may be altered due to more stringent importation regulations. We do not directly purchase semiconductors and electronic components, PROTAVIC INTERNATIONAL is more in the business of specialty chemicals or minerals.

With hiring remaining a challenge, what can the industry do to help develop skilled workers?
The industry should prepare to train more skilled workers in order to cope with the growth of electronic industry. However, PROTAVIC INTERNATIONAL is looking for specific skills which are not usually identified in the electronic industry like chemistry or material science.

The fact that PROTAVIC INTERNATIONAL is part of a bigger group PROTEX INTERNATIONAL gives the opportunity to bundle the hiring activities and achieve economy of scale when growing the staff. Nonetheless, hiring stays a challenge and even more important is the sustainability of the new employee. Fortunately, the group has existed already for more than 90 years, which shows the ability to withstand adverse conditions.