Industry News, Trends and Technology, and Standards Updates

Cimetrix held its annual shareholder meeting this past Friday, August 16, 2019 at our headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT. It was nice to see many familiar faces as well as some new faces. There was just one proposal voted on at the meeting to re-elect all five Directors, which was approved by shareholders with over 99% of the votes cast in favor of the proposal. Bob Reback, our President and CEO, introduced each member of Board of Directors and provided a brief history of each board member’s tenure with Cimetrix and the specific expertise and value each of them bring to Cimetrix and our shareholders. We appreciate the wisdom, hard work and direction from our talented board members as well as their commitment to fairly represent the interests of shareholders. We are thankful to our shareholders for their continued support of Management and our Board of Directors.

After the formal shareholder meeting was adjourned, Dave Faulkner, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Alan Weber, Vice President, New Product Innovations, presented an update on industry trends, our product portfolio and growth opportunities. Following their presentation, Bob Reback, provided an update on the State-of-the-Company, including the company’s increased CAGR of 28% compared to the 6% CAGR as a public company from 2002 through 2013. Cimetrix ended the 2018 fiscal year with profitable operations, no debt, and over $3M of cash.

We continue to be thankful for the support and enthusiasm demonstrated by our shareholders, the hard work of all our employees, and the guidance from our Board of Directors. Thank you for all your contributions to Cimetrix.

It was nice to see so many familiar faces this past Friday, August 17, 2018 at our Annual Shareholders Meeting. The meeting was held at our headquarters in Salt Lake City, UT with over fifty-five percent of Cimetrix shareholders represented at the meeting. There was one proposal submitted by management to re-elect all five Directors, which was approved by shareholders with over 99% of the votes cast in favor of the proposal. We are grateful to have an incredibly talented and experienced Board of Directors who take their responsibility to represent the interests of shareholders very seriously. We are thankful our shareholders recognize and appreciate the value of our independent directors. 

After the formal shareholder meeting was adjourned, Dave Faulkner, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing, and Ranjan Chatterjee, Vice President and General Manager, Smart Factory Business Unit, gave presentations on the exciting growth initiatives underway at Cimetrix. Following their presentation, Bob Reback, President and CEO, provided his perspective on the state-of-the-company and outlook going forward. During these presentations and ensuing discussion, management shared that Cimetrix is seeing the results of its growth initiatives, as revenues for the first six months of 2018 were up over 24% year-over-year. In addition, during a discussion on the benefits of going private (which Cimetrix did at the end of 2014), management reported the benefits of going private exceeded its expectations and contributed to growing revenues at a CAGR over 18%, compared to the 6% CAGR as a public company from 2002 through 2013. Lastly, management reported that its balance sheet continues to get stronger, even as the company is able to make significant investments in its growth initiatives. The company continues to operate profitability on a quarterly basis, the company has no debt, and the company now has over $3M of cash.

We continue to be thankful for the support and enthusiasm demonstrated by our shareholders, the hard work of all our employees and the wisdom and guidance of our Board of Directors. Thank you for all your contributions to Cimetrix. 

Over the past six months, Cimetrix has hired some fantastic new employees in a number of positions, including software engineering, quality assurance, client training and support, and even some new administrative positions. As we are always searching for good employees, there are times I reflect on my father’s legacy of over 30 years with NASA and think of all the challenges NASA faced finding good people in their quest to put a man on the moon. I remember him talking about the “young kids” coming into the organization. By the way, those “young kids” are now my age and older, including many that are retired. Today I find myself using the same term, “young kids” and, as I do, I catch myself and laugh.

Finding “The Right Stuff,” if you will excuse my cheesy reference to the movie version of the Mercury 7 first manned space flights in the early 60’s, is no easy task—especially in these days of low unemployment for highly skilled technical people. But we have found if you make the investment in your recruiting process, you can attract smart talent and greatly increase your chances of finding superior employees that enjoy high job satisfaction, fit well with the team, and contribute to the success of the organization.

To make a successful hire, we move slowly and take our time getting to know the candidate. Our philosophy is that everyone has natural strengths and talents. A good fit is when a potential new hire can leverage their natural strengths and talents in the job function and matches the core values of the company. The right job for anyone is the job that provides an outstanding opportunity to apply those natural strengths and talents in teamwork with others towards a compelling vision and opportunity. You must find someone who possesses the skills your company is looking for, shares the same core values as the company, and is priced at a range that is equitable in the organization. If there is misalignment in any of these core characteristics, DO NOT HIRE.   

A good recruiting process takes patience but, with patience, comes risk. If an employer take too long in the recruiting process, they risk losing a good candidate to other offers. On the other hand, if a company possesses the clout of, say, Google, patience becomes the burden of the candidate and not the hiring company. According to Laszlo Bock, author of Insights from Inside Google, ‘Work Rules’ that will transform how you live and lead, Google may take six months to make an offer. I suspect in the early 60’s, NASA carried the same clout as Google because almost everyone in America wanted to be part of creating history.

Bottom line, recruiting is an investment in a long term relationship. Be thorough. Involve a large number of employees across the organization in the hiring and decision making process. The initial interaction on how a candidate treats the receptionist can be very revealing. Administer “talent tests” to validate required skills. Call references. Perform the necessary educational and other background checks. Take the candidate to lunch in a more social environment and observe how they interact with others. Leave no stone unturned. If you are diligent in the recruiting process, you may just find “The Right Stuff” for your organization.

For more insight into successful hiring, read How to Think About Hiring: Play Smarter to Win the Talent Management Game by Lex Sisney, CEO Coach and author of Organizational Physics.♦

With unemployment rates at some of the lowest rates in 10 years, keeping good employees can be a challenge. Ownership in the company they work for is one benefit highly valued by many employees. We all want to be part of a growing business, make it successful, and know we will be rewarded for our hard work. Cimetrix wants to provide such ownership incentives to our employees and do it in such a way that is fair and motivating to the employees while being fiscally responsible to shareholders.

One of the impacts of the December 26, 2014 reverse stock split was the price per share value went up and number of shares went down. The pre-reverse stock split value went from $0.15 a share to a post-reverse stock split price of $1,500 a share (as of December 26, 2014). This reduction in shares and corresponding increase in share price made it fiscally impractical to use stock options as part of our incentive program moving forward. Therefore, the Cimetrix Board of Directors approved a transaction to perform a 1,000 to 1 forward split effective December 30, 2015.

The forward split transaction resulted in 3,928,000 shares outstanding as compared to the pre-forward split shares outstanding of 3,928 and decreased the share price by the same ratio. While the ownership position of all Shareholders remained the same pre and post forward-split, it adjusted the price per share to a much more manageable price for granting incentive stock options.

For Shareholders holding physical stock certificates, a letter of instruction from our Transfer Agent, Colonial Stock will be mailed out by February 1, 2016. Shareholders with stock in brokerage accounts should receive notification from their brokerage firm directly.

We believe this transaction will benefit both employees and shareholders by providing the right level of incentives to keep a smart and talented workforce.♦