Aimtron's Mukesh Vasani beats the odds to become the “preferred partner” in electronic manufacturing

There are hundreds of stories we hear about powerful individuals who come from nothing, work hard to achieve what they set out to do. You might feel that the “rags to riches” story is on the verge of becoming a cliché, yet we often forget that each one of those stories revolves around an individual who has a unique skillset - a unique solution to their so-called cliché challenges.

Meet Mukesh Vasani, the founder and CEO of Aimtron. From a tiny village in India, Mukesh started as a farmer.  From there, he worked his way up to being a part-owner of a CEM company in Des Plaines/Elk Grove village, IL, where he spent 20 years becoming a seasoned expert in the business. In 2008, he and his partner parted ways and soon after, he established Aimtron. He started Aimtron in 2009 with a simple concept- to add value.

Aimtron and its brilliance

On a global scale, 2009 wasn’t the best of the times to start a company considering it was during the worst economic downturn since the great depression. One of the toughest challenges that Mr. Vasani faced was- the timing. It was right in the middle of an economic recession. Secondly, Mr. Vasani also had a hard time in establishing Aimtron’s identity. On the bright side, starting a company in the middle of the recession allowed for Aimtron to get ahead of the curve and invest in equipment that everyone else was trying to liquidate. It was Mr. Vasani’s pioneering capability to capitalize on the opportunity to grow as much as possible into a diverse selection of markets.

Aimtron produces printed circuit boards and has the brilliance and ability to support a project from concept, all the way through manufacturing to obsolescence management through the famed Aimtron Design Studio. Other areas like low-cost overseas production (Aimtron Electronics Pvt. Ltd.), US Aerospace/Defense manufacturing (Aimtron Systems), and even Aimtron’s very own product line are developed and molded here.

Instead of blindly assembling a PBCA, based purely on customer specs, Aimtron adds value by having an expert team find ways to potentially improve on the design and save on cost, adding value and increasing the rate at which the manufacturer can turn product.

Pioneering success

Since inception, Aimtron has had customers across countries worldwide. The company continues to maintain relationships with a global network of customers and supply chain partners and hosts annual networking gatherings, known as Aimtron Fest for a diverse meeting platform. However, when it came to hiring the right people and targeting the optimal customer bases and industries to market, Mr. Vasani again faced quite a challenge.

But there was never a moment where he stopped believing in achieving his ambition. Mr. Vasani believes that motivation comes from within and today, he’s is happy to have assembled a team of self-motivated, highly driven personnel that are secure in their future. “Our goal is “hire to retire”, and our low turnover rate exemplifies that,” he says.

Marcus Lemonis and Bill Gates have played an inspirational role in shaping Mr. Vasani as a pioneer and a leader. Speaking of leadership, he advises that a leader should be able to see the invisible- something that others don’t see. The saying goes something like “Those who see the invisible can do the impossible”. Also, a leader should willingly take the right risks. A CEO or a leader should also have realistic optimism, he advises- someone who can think positively.

Brighter Future

The present growth of Aimtron has been a solid upscale. The company plans to continue building on its niche of technology manufacturing and diversify into other feasible industries such as Autonomous Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, etc. “We will always keep growing, it is my firm belief that a company that is no longer growing is no longer surviving,” he says. Aimtron will also continue developing leading-edge design ODM products, and partnering with individuals and organizations that share its vision.

And that’s not all. Mr. Vasani plans to expand the growth in personnel for key employees in place as well the succession of the company. And plans have been going on to increase the volume of production across all of his facilities to reach annual revenue of 100MM in the mid-term. “Finally, our future plans for the Aimtron Foundation include doubling the number of students we have in India and creating a new curriculum of courses in technology related fields by 2021,” he confides. In the USA, the Aimtron Foundation is also planning on starting an incubation center, which will function as a means for him to kindle the Entrepreneurial spark within the next generation of young, budding future CEOs.

Aimnet- The Secret to Success

Aimnet is Aimtron’s internal system, which organizes, secures, and accesses work instructions, engineering documents, job scheduling, quality reports, sales reports, and a plethora of other metrics. Mr. Vasani has always put a strong emphasis on building a strong, robust system of equipment while keeping it user-friendly. The creation of Aimnet is a large step in building an equally strong IT infrastructure to support that.

As the CEO of Aimtron, he believes his notable achievement is becoming a viable force in technology manufacturing from rags-to-riches and coming from a small town with different culture and different language. A word of advice he says: “Be people-sensitive: people are the most valuable assets for any organization. Being sensitive to their aspirations tends to create a very powerful team resulting in a niche that no one can compete with.”

“The desire to add value slowly became the soul and center of Aimtron’s business model - to become the ‘one-stop shop’ for anyone in need of tech manufacturing.”

“Every step towards growth is a risk. If we don’t take any, we’ll never grow. It’s easy to say, but very difficult to see what risks are okay and which aren’t.”

“Vision, that is something that doesn't change periodically. It sets the tone for the future, it sets our path, and without that vision to guide us, we cannot survive long term.”