A rebrand can be cosmetic, or it can be a line in the sand about what you build and how you want to grow. Philip Stoten is joined by Nick Wasserman, President and CEO of PTG Electronics (formerly Pinnacle Technology Group), to unpack why a 40-year, family-owned EMS company in Southeast Michigan changed its name and what that clarity unlocks with customers who need serious electronics manufacturing services, not commodity volume. Nick shares how the business has transitioned leadership, stayed resilient through diversification, and kept its identity rooted in disciplined quality systems.
We spend a big part of the conversation on PTG’s newly earned AS9100 aerospace certification and what it signals to aerospace and mil-aero buyers looking for traceability, repeatability, and a partner who can handle mid-volume, higher-complexity electronics assembly. That naturally connects to the surge of activity in the drone space, where startups and newer entrants are moving fast and need an EMS partner who can help with design for manufacturability, documentation readiness, and ramp planning, not just build-to-print execution. If you’ve ever watched a promising prototype stumble in production, you’ll recognize why “manufacturable at the right scale” is the real standard.
Nick also explains how digital transformation and AI are changing the unsexy but crucial parts of contract manufacturing: speed to quote, speed to onboard, and speed to launch purchasing. We talk about the balance between turning quotes quickly and still delivering pricing that reflects real sourcing, plus the supply chain turbulence hitting the industry, from memory constraints to emerging FR4 laminate concerns for printed circuit boards.
We close with how tariffs, second-sourcing strategies, and regional manufacturing “arms” are pushing more work toward US EMS providers, including opportunities where PTG supports turnkey fulfillment and even ships directly to end customers.
If you care about aerospace manufacturing, drone hardware, EMS partnership models, AI in manufacturing operations, or the reality of today’s electronics supply chain, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a colleague, and leave a review with the biggest constraint you’re seeing right now.
EMS@C-Level is sponsored by global inspection leaders Koh Young (https://www.kohyoung.com)
