Andy Dolan, Global Business Development Manager, AIM

Andy Dolan, Global Business Development Manager, AIM

AIM is also seeing a growth in market share as key customers around the world acknowledge AIM as a leader in providing electronic assembly materials. This positive outlook for AIM has provided AIM President, Rick Black, and our upper management group, the incentive to invest in new production sites and support teams around the world.

In 2014 AIM will open a new full line manufacturing facility in Poland, expanding our sales/technical services to better serve the European marketplace. In Mexico, we are moving into a larger manufacturing facility with state of the art development and testing lab, and adding to our sales/technical support staff to accommodate our expanding business in the region. AIM also recently entered into a joint manufacturing venture in Brazil to produce AIM's full line of products thus expanding our global support efforts in South America. Production output

Continues to grow steadily in the Shenzhen, China plant, as business growth in that key market continues. Investment in R&D, a foundation for our growth, continues strong as well.

Our forecasted growth in 2014 will be driven by new solder paste and flux chemistry products. New paste products, especially our NC259 product, which was specifically developed for SN100C(R) and low silver alloys, will be a foundation of our expanding business. We are in the stages of introducing a new paste product for SAC305 early in the New Year.

We look forward to bringing more information on this new product as we get closer to introduction. All of this development is being driven by the "Voice of the Customer" and the recognition that the needs for finer pitch printing, consistent print volumes, low residues and high reliability/consistency are driving the market. Our new flux products, NC265 and VOC-free NC277, have become widely accepted and in most cases outperformed other industry standard products. Minimizing residues, being easier to clean when necessary, and concerns regarding flux impacting RF signal stability are some of the key factors in the development of these products.

Overall we are excited about our continued growth and aggressive global expansion, and look forward to an exciting and successful 2014.