Brian D'Amico, President, MIRTEC Corp

The good sisters who taught me in Catholic grammar school drilled into us impressionable youths that repetition is good for the soul. They were referring to reading, writing, and 'rithmetic, but they could just as easily have referred to business practices like predicting the future. It was in that obedient spirit that my Viewpoint for the past two years has been one of cautious optimism.

Enough of obedience; we have a new Pope. Now it is time to throw repetition, and caution, to the wind. Sorry sisters (not really), this year we are expressing good old-fashioned died-in-the-wool American Optimism.

Why? Numbers: Datest's business has grown 15% in 2013 over the previous year, and we see that upward trend continuing in 2014. A big reason for that growth is nearly 60 new accounts in 2013, the overwhelming majority of whom availed themselves of our 2D and 3D x-ray and 3D CT-scan failure analysis services. Board-level reliability problems are a growing concern among OEMs and contract manufacturers alike.

Boards fresh off the production line, that previously passed all manner of required tests, are subsequently failing, often months later, disturbingly often in the field, sometimes in compromising situations. The guy, or gal, at our door, with this kind of problem, needs an answer, and quickly.

Decisions, and dollars, ride on that answer. Many of these new customers have obtained that "why" from Datest in the past twelve months. We have succeeded in bringing non-destructive clarity to what are often confusing situations prior to engaging with us, and engineers often depart our facility with a direction and a plan of action where none existed previously.

On the way to determining the "why," many of those same customers are also rediscovering the "how," as in, how can I prevent this from happening again?  Helpfully many of Datest's other test platforms and engineering services address that "how," and these same customers can see many of those services, conveniently arranged as they traverse our shop floor on the way to the x-ray systems in the back. This manner of doing business worked well for us in 2013, and we expect it will continue even more strongly in 2014.

Barring cataclysmic events, and government ineptitude, we expect 2014 will be a decent year, possibly even a really good year, with numerous growth opportunities for Datest. We also anticipate introducing several new services this year, all in the service of defeating the notion, obstinately held by some, that testing and test engineering is a non-value added activity in Manufacturing. At least until the board fails. We obviously beg to differ regarding that notion, and we aim next year to prove it more than ever.

Our best wishes to all for a happy and prosperous New Year.