1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,960
Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Tim

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:06,280
Speaker 1: Steneveek on Bloomberg Radio.

3
00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:08,680
Speaker 2: All right, well, we talked a lot about this during

4
00:00:08,720 --> 00:00:11,559
Speaker 2: the pandemic, of course, the supply chain crunch all the

5
00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:14,320
Speaker 2: things that have chips in them, and we saw that,

6
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,599
Speaker 2: like have some really serious situations because the supply chain

7
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,120
Speaker 2: when it comes to chips just wasn't happening at least

8
00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,080
Speaker 2: wasn't certainly keeping up with demand. So everything like cars,

9
00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,760
Speaker 2: washing machines, refrigerators, we don't think about it, but everything

10
00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:28,560
Speaker 2: folks you know, has got chips in it.

11
00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:30,320
Speaker 3: Well, it turns out the same thing goes for motors.

12
00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:32,480
Speaker 3: They're not just in the stuff of like electric cars

13
00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:39,280
Speaker 3: and elevators. We got medical devices, renewable energy, robotics, automation, transportation,

14
00:00:39,320 --> 00:00:43,000
Speaker 3: consumer electronics, HVAC systems, Carol, like heaters and air conditioners,

15
00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,760
Speaker 3: those all have motors. Yeah, So motors are everywhere.

16
00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:47,279
Speaker 1: Yeah, they are.

17
00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,559
Speaker 2: So we've got with us Brian Casey, the CEO of

18
00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:54,600
Speaker 2: ECMPCB stater Tech. It's a company that designed specialty electric

19
00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,920
Speaker 2: motors and the software that makes them, and really delighted

20
00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,480
Speaker 2: to have with us Brian. He's joining us on Zoom

21
00:00:59,480 --> 00:00:59,920
Speaker 2: from Massage.

22
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:00,600
Speaker 1: It's Brian.

23
00:01:00,680 --> 00:01:03,360
Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. First of all, give us a little

24
00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:05,800
Speaker 2: bit more of an idea. Specifically, we're talking about these

25
00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:08,920
Speaker 2: motors as software, but we hear motors and we think

26
00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:09,319
Speaker 2: one thing.

27
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,080
Speaker 1: But tell us exactly what you guys are up to.

28
00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,280
Speaker 4: I'll think first off, Carroll Tion, thank you so much

29
00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:16,120
Speaker 4: for having me on. And I think it was only

30
00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,360
Speaker 4: fitting that I come in after Yaba Daba Doo time.

31
00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:19,880
Speaker 1: So you're welcome.

32
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,200
Speaker 4: Even the Scooby Doo Show uses motors. So you know

33
00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:30,120
Speaker 4: ECM's offering is we're taking software and allowing people to

34
00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,800
Speaker 4: design their own motors. And that's everyone from large enterprises

35
00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,160
Speaker 4: that are fully integrating, so they can, as you guys

36
00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,000
Speaker 4: opened up, get rid of the supply chain kind of

37
00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:44,880
Speaker 4: issues and concerns that they had during the pandemic. So

38
00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,880
Speaker 4: it really creates a unique opportunity to have all these

39
00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,520
Speaker 4: motors printed basically through our software.

40
00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,440
Speaker 3: Bill I want to talk about that development process. I mean,

41
00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:57,240
Speaker 3: forgive me, I don't know a ton about the motor

42
00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,200
Speaker 3: development process, but I do understand that you at CEES

43
00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,280
Speaker 3: unveiled some new software that's really going to change the

44
00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,960
Speaker 3: way at least according to you, that electric motors are

45
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,040
Speaker 3: developed and manufactured. So talk to me about the problem

46
00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:12,640
Speaker 3: that you've solved here, the problem that you're trying to solve,

47
00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:16,440
Speaker 3: what needed to be fixed in the manufacturing and development process.

48
00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:19,480
Speaker 4: Well, I think what you need to be fixed is

49
00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,240
Speaker 4: kind of is more of like an a macro kind

50
00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,080
Speaker 4: of evolution where there really hasn't been anything kind of

51
00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,760
Speaker 4: unique or new in the motor motor world. And as

52
00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:32,480
Speaker 4: we move towards as you opened up with tim like

53
00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:38,200
Speaker 4: sustainability electrification, that requires a more exacting and a more

54
00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:43,240
Speaker 4: nimble type of offering, and through software, we're able to

55
00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:49,360
Speaker 4: leverage printed circuit board manufacturing and create very exact motor

56
00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:55,200
Speaker 4: specifications and motors for end use applications, which allows innovators

57
00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,680
Speaker 4: and engineers to kind of solve problems very rapidly.

58
00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:00,280
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting, and you guys, you should with

59
00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,560
Speaker 2: our producers some research. But the need and there's a

60
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,079
Speaker 2: line in some of the background material that you sent

61
00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,760
Speaker 2: the need for specialized electric motors as an overlook technology trend.

62
00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:13,560
Speaker 2: The world was required or will require billions of specialized

63
00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:17,280
Speaker 2: motors annually in every vertical imaginable and a sector valued

64
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,000
Speaker 2: it over two hundred billion dollars a year, So money

65
00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,640
Speaker 2: talks in our investing audience. One of the things we

66
00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:25,080
Speaker 2: always like when we have a guest on is like,

67
00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:27,800
Speaker 2: tell us why they should care about what you are doing.

68
00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:29,840
Speaker 2: What is it that they need to know and understand.

69
00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:34,079
Speaker 4: I think that it's the disruption that's going to occur,

70
00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,600
Speaker 4: you know, I think big motor OEMs and traditional there's

71
00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:41,680
Speaker 4: always going to be a place for traditional motors there

72
00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,640
Speaker 4: where you order through a catalog or you order through

73
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:48,040
Speaker 4: a specification. But when you have you know the emergence

74
00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,760
Speaker 4: of the Internet, the emergence of new kind of fast

75
00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:54,280
Speaker 4: speed chips and people innovating very quickly, they need that

76
00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,480
Speaker 4: response time and in order to fulfill that, that's where

77
00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,160
Speaker 4: that's where ECM comes into play. And the analogy would be.

78
00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:03,880
Speaker 4: And you know in the music industry, you know, when

79
00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:06,000
Speaker 4: the Beatles and the Stones were recording, they were using

80
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,360
Speaker 4: eight tracks and sixteen track recording. And now you have

81
00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,320
Speaker 4: music artists that are doing everything on their laptop right

82
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,000
Speaker 4: and they're all doing that through software. And that's really

83
00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,240
Speaker 4: kind of that turned that industry upside down. And even

84
00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,720
Speaker 4: at ces that opened up our eyes. I mean Our

85
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,200
Speaker 4: booth was just jam packed for four days straight and

86
00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:26,600
Speaker 4: we had everyone from large you know, Fortune one hundred

87
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,240
Speaker 4: companies that were there kind of kicking the tires to

88
00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,280
Speaker 4: what I would call one off like you know, consultants

89
00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,800
Speaker 4: and engineers that are looking for new ways to get

90
00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,440
Speaker 4: their robotics, their robotics, you know, startups off the ground,

91
00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,760
Speaker 4: and their medical device companies off the ground. So ECM's

92
00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,160
Speaker 4: PCB state or tech enables that. So it's a it's

93
00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,400
Speaker 4: a powerful kind of disruptive tool that I think is

94
00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,120
Speaker 4: going to really kind of turn things upside down.

95
00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,960
Speaker 3: And is the tool software, yes.

96
00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:59,760
Speaker 4: Sir, yeah, So, so the software allows users to do

97
00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,640
Speaker 4: zach specifications for what they want for a physical motor,

98
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,760
Speaker 4: and then the end of the product of the software

99
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,440
Speaker 4: creates what they call a gerber file, and that file

100
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:11,440
Speaker 4: gets sent to NDI print circuit board house in the

101
00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,600
Speaker 4: world and we're able to print these staters and then

102
00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:20,920
Speaker 4: these staters go into mechanical systems that become as a

103
00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,720
Speaker 4: traditional kind of motor that you'd see here. And what's

104
00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 4: great about that, the ubiquitousness of the software is that

105
00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,359
Speaker 4: you can print these staters anywhere in the world. So

106
00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,840
Speaker 4: if you have a production facility in Chicago. You can

107
00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:36,719
Speaker 4: print them right there.

108
00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,120
Speaker 2: It's so interesting, right because we talk so much about chips, right,

109
00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,680
Speaker 2: we say chips are in everything, But if it's some

110
00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:46,280
Speaker 2: kind of mechanical device, whether it's a robot or something else, like,

111
00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:47,960
Speaker 2: you're going to need some type of motor and that's

112
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,760
Speaker 2: where you guys come in, right. It's kind OF's got

113
00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,400
Speaker 2: to be that connective tissue, if you will, And that's

114
00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:54,120
Speaker 2: what you guys.

115
00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:54,400
Speaker 1: Are up to.

116
00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,240
Speaker 4: Absolutely, it's spot on, Carol, Like, well, we have a

117
00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:06,240
Speaker 4: Scandinavian company that makes robotic applications for exoskeletons, and you know,

118
00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:09,560
Speaker 4: from thought to finish, you know, was you know, eight

119
00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:11,720
Speaker 4: weeks and they had a they were able to put

120
00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:14,920
Speaker 4: a prototype motor on on on one of their devices

121
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:19,440
Speaker 4: and actually had an actual patient using it, right, you know,

122
00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:21,840
Speaker 4: within within eight weeks. And then they were able to

123
00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:23,440
Speaker 4: model that and say, hey, this is we want we

124
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:25,480
Speaker 4: want to have a little bit more more torque here.

125
00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:27,400
Speaker 4: We want to have a little more power and that

126
00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:30,919
Speaker 4: direct kind of instant feedback. You can only do that

127
00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,920
Speaker 4: with what I would call dynamic modeling proof software.

128
00:06:34,279 --> 00:06:36,280
Speaker 1: Well, I connected the dots. My dad was an engineer.

129
00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:37,720
Speaker 2: We talked a lot about how things worked, and you

130
00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:39,640
Speaker 2: took up apart a lot of things at home while

131
00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:41,040
Speaker 2: we were growing up, So not.

132
00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:43,120
Speaker 3: Gonna lie, Brian. It also helped when you held up

133
00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:45,120
Speaker 3: the you know, the props.

134
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:46,400
Speaker 1: Our whole control room was.

135
00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,880
Speaker 3: Like, oh, so if you're watching us on YouTube, there's

136
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,240
Speaker 3: some great images right now that you can see of

137
00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:54,320
Speaker 3: what exactly Brian Casey is talking about.

138
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:56,479
Speaker 1: I do want to ask you who are your biggest customers.

139
00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,640
Speaker 4: Give me an idea, so you know a little bit

140
00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,799
Speaker 4: of like kind of we're kind of protected with some NDAs.

141
00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,120
Speaker 4: Everyone wants to keep this great secret to themselves where

142
00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:06,919
Speaker 4: they kind of get out in front of it. But

143
00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:13,800
Speaker 4: very large HVAC companies, some robotics companies, medical device companies,

144
00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:19,600
Speaker 4: what I would call electronics manufacturing companies. We have a

145
00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:24,480
Speaker 4: partnership with Celestica. They were early adopters and a very

146
00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,360
Speaker 4: innovative company. They've been able to really kind of exploit

147
00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,880
Speaker 4: the technology for their customers and clients and everything. You know,

148
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,760
Speaker 4: also what I would call haptics, so people that are

149
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:39,200
Speaker 4: doing you know, cinematography and gaming.

150
00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:40,880
Speaker 1: So it's like it all over the place.

151
00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:43,960
Speaker 2: You guys are private right, I've got that right, Yeah, okay,

152
00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,360
Speaker 2: I thought we had to checked and stuff. So obviously,

153
00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,440
Speaker 2: so your numbers and everything are private, but give us

154
00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,120
Speaker 2: an idea just so that we understand the business. What

155
00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,600
Speaker 2: kind of growth you're anticipating over the next twelve months,

156
00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:57,280
Speaker 2: so what it tells us about the business, and then

157
00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:58,960
Speaker 2: what it tells us about the business environment.

158
00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,400
Speaker 4: Great question, Carol. So you know, back in twenty eighteen

159
00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:05,960
Speaker 4: twenty nineteen, it was just it was really still in

160
00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:08,080
Speaker 4: the lab and the thought process, and we're still building

161
00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,640
Speaker 4: the code, and revenue is doubled or maybe more than

162
00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:16,240
Speaker 4: doubled year after year since that. We're expecting another kind

163
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:20,200
Speaker 4: of what I would call exponential growth this year, but

164
00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,280
Speaker 4: looking at the turnout that we had at CEES, it

165
00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:25,720
Speaker 4: could be even larger than that. And some of the

166
00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:28,760
Speaker 4: adoption is where the revenue is created. So if we

167
00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:30,920
Speaker 4: have a large, let's say Fortune one hundred company that

168
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,920
Speaker 4: wants to vertically integrate and they're using the software and

169
00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:36,520
Speaker 4: they're creating their own designs and they're building their own motors,

170
00:08:37,080 --> 00:08:40,600
Speaker 4: well sometimes it takes a while for that to be digested.

171
00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:45,560
Speaker 4: So yeah, we have pretty good predictable future revenues going forward,

172
00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:46,680
Speaker 4: and it's just fun to.

173
00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:49,240
Speaker 2: Just ten seconds fifteen seconds left. What would you describe

174
00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,080
Speaker 2: the economic environment right now? Our business environment just quickly

175
00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:53,280
Speaker 2: based on what you are seeing.

176
00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know what, we're pretty optimistic. We feel like

177
00:08:57,840 --> 00:09:00,000
Speaker 4: things are what I would call is kind of quieted down.

178
00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,520
Speaker 4: Interest rates have improved a little bit, so, but as

179
00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,920
Speaker 4: far as like capital investing in tech, we're we're really

180
00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,480
Speaker 4: busy and you know we've been We've been very fortunate.

181
00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,400
Speaker 4: People aren't holding back, they're releasing their capital budgets to

182
00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,520
Speaker 4: try projects with us. So we're pretty bullish for the next, uh,

183
00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,000
Speaker 4: you know, foreseeable future.

184
00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:22,959
Speaker 2: Really fun to talk with you, and I love somebody

185
00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:25,480
Speaker 2: who gets a Flintstone's reference and also has a prop So, Brian,

186
00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,720
Speaker 2: thank you so much being about Brian Casey their CEO

187
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:29,959
Speaker 2: of e C m PCB stater a