In a year shaped by uncertainty, progress at PCS Instruments has come through focus and disciplined innovation.
In Episode 3 of the CEO Series, Steve reflects on the steady decisions and changes that have driven momentum. From new product launches and customer engagement to continued investment in people, processes, and capabilities.
How do you keep innovation moving forward while staying true to what built the business?
In my last communication, I discussed innovation as a habit and the importance of maintaining sight of the critical activities that built PCS, while also staying ahead with new approaches. The last few months have reminded us once again of the value of focus and flexibility. Much of the recent business literature has centred on the macro economy and the persistent air of uncertainty leading to a lack of business confidence. It has been a year of continuous assessment and careful navigation, however, reflecting on the progress made, things have gone well, with every small change helping us to move forward.
We successfully released the HSD instrument with remarkable interest. We had the opportunity to present at the recent STLE Tribology and Lubrication for E-Mobility event and received several positive messages from customers regarding the quality of the presentation, the panel discussion, and the instrument itself. [https://www.stle.org/Emobility] We truly appreciate that feedback; knowing we are creating the next generation of valuable products makes such a difference and provides us with ample energy for the development of the next instrument or modification.
Our marketing team have been refreshing our online presence and breadth of content, which has resulted in continually rising engagement. We are pleased to see that the tribology community is enjoying our articles and updates. We have continued our TribologyTalks podcast series as well as launching our first webinar series, Science Friction. We also launched new pages and branding on our website with more updates to come on our Industry and Instrument pages.
We built a new showcase laboratory, which is ready for demonstrations, training and in-house visits.
Our R&D team have been managing the delicate balance of supporting our in-service instruments with refreshes and updates alongside new rig development, all while helping customers with insights into their results and emerging needs. Our production, sales support and shipping teams have risen to the year-end challenge as they always do, and our applications engineers have hosted a wide range of customers in Acton in recent months.
We have invested further in our CRM tool, adding a service module to help track questions and requests for assistance as they come in. We will use this to build a database of recurring questions to enhance information in our manuals and help people to get answers faster. We have been running this module for a several weeks now and, while we always felt our support was good; we now have metrics that show our average time to respond, and I have to say it is very good, but there will be occasions were we haven’t met the expectation of the customer and so will continue to work on this critical area to provide the best instruments with the best support.
As we look toward the new year, it feels like the economy will continue in the theme of 2025, but as we get used to the ongoing uncertainty, I expect business’s patience to run thin and start to drive forward. At PCS we will continue our investment in our facilities, efficiencies in our processes together with the targeted hiring of talented people to add to the team.
We enter 2026 with strong sense of purpose for the road ahead. As a business, we remain committed to investing in our people, our capabilities, and the ideas that will shape the future of tribology testing. Guided by curiosity, care for our customers, and pride in what we build together, we look forward to continuing this journey - generating instruments, insights and partnerships that we believe will truly make a difference.
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