Josh Edberg, Director of Global Marketing & Product Management, OK International

How was business in 2022 and what do you expect for the industry in 2023?
The MicroCare™ business was solid across all product platforms in 2022. Our sales and marketing teams successfully refined our focus, our manufacturing and supply teams worked diligently to mitigate the global supply chain challenges, our executive team remained committed to our capital investment plan and the results have been remarkable.

Our expectations for 2023 remain positive despite continued reference to recession and continued supply chain challenges in the media.

Will you be launching new products or services in 2023?
New product introductions have always been a critical part of the fabric of MicroCare. We are particularly excited about the launch of our Sticklers™ Pro360™ Touchless Cleaner from our Fiber Optic Platform and our ProEZ™ Gel Aerosol instrument pre-cleaner from our Medical Infection Prevention platform.

Have supply chain shortages of semiconductors and electronic components caused problems for your company in 2022 and what have you done to reduce these issues in 2023?
We saw strong demand from our Electronics platform in 2022 despite the global shortage of chip and board components (likely due to demand backlog).

Despite recent reports of recession and diminished demand expectations for electronics in 2023 we feel it is still too early to call. MicroCare has worked hard to diversify our product portfolio and feel positive about our expectations as a whole for 2023.

Are you able to hire enough qualified employees? What could the industry do to develop a larger pool of skilled workers?
Hiring continues to be one of the biggest challenges we face. The industry would benefit from increased exposure on social media, etc. focusing on conveying an image of "coolness". The amount of spend on products that support gaming, virtual reality, etc. has been staggering particularly since the pandemic started.

If the industry could create an image of it being just as cool to build these things (phones, gaming consoles, games, etc.) as it is to use it might attract more career seekers and at earlier point in their respective careers. Promoting this to the related trades and trade schools to increase awareness would possibly help as well.

Has your company travel returned to pre-pandemic levels or are you still limiting travel to customer sites or industry conferences in 2023?
Travel continues to be a large part of the value that MicroCare brings to the various markets we serve and we are committed to leveraging travel to both customer sites and industry trade shows in 2023.

We don't tend to compare travel as a "pre" or "post" pandemic equation but rather take a step back and refine the "who, what, and where" relative to travel so that we maximize the associated costs. For instance, we have decreased the sheer quantity of tradeshows for 2023 but the shows we have committed to we have increased our representation and commitment to maximize impact.