Joel Scutchfield, General Manager of SMT Business Operations & Director of Sales, Koh Young Technology

It's time again, in which those of us who are old, to dispense industry wisdom acquired from our latest twelve months' batch of mistakes.

Here's what I know: Anger, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and pride (the perennial Seven Deadly Sins) will, as always, find growth opportunities.

Patience, empathy, listening, open-mindedness, kindness, prudence, fair dealing, common sense, and a desire for compromise will be in short supply, especially in a presidential election year, which 2024 is. Our politics infuse our lives (unfortunately). How we manage that infusion separates the adults from the crackpots.

How to get by in our business, amid the tumult, and make everything work?
Start by shipping more than it costs to ship it and produce it. A 5-10% increase in shipments over 2023 would be nice. The seeds have been planted among our own strong customers, and many select fledgling customers, to enable us to realize that goal. We just have to execute.

What could possibly go wrong?
As I wrote in 2021, I hope at a minimum that 12 months from now the sums will be positive – equal to or greater than 2023; and the expense side will not exceed the revenue side, allowing us to take some income from the effort. We remain favorable to eating as a way of life. Hopefully peace reigns on earth in more places than not. And civil discourse supplants shouting where opinions differ. Admittedly tough goals to reach presently.

Here's some basic advice: read something good this year, preferably unrelated to your line of work and not social media. Consider the humble book. Expand your mind. Learn something new. Gain a new perspective. Entertain the possibility, however small, that people who think differently might have something worthy to offer and are not evil or adversarial for saying it. Show respect and listen to them.

What subversive literature have you been reading?
For fiction, I'm currently reading a book of short stories by the Irish-American author Mary Gordon. She writes of real peoples' struggles in clear prose, sharp and arresting as air on a winter's night. Our stories. Our struggles. For nonfiction, I'm reading Robert Caro's first big book, The Power Broker. It's about Robert Moses, who was responsible for all public works in New York City for 50 years, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Embedded in a biography is a meticulous study of how political power is acquired and used sometimes for good, but often for bad. A cautionary tale, the writing of which, in multiple volumes, Caro has devoted his life.

Be skeptical of those in authority and especially what they say. Always. Their agendas are not yours. In 2023, so again in 2024.

Cherish your relationships, especially the close ones. They are fleeting. Things change due to circumstances we cannot control. Love your loved ones. Today they're here; tomorrow, who knows?

To all, a prosperous 2024, however you choose to define prosperity.