1. Who is Tabor Electronics? What are some of the company’s key milestones?
Tabor Electronics is an Israeli test and measurement (T&M) company that has been in business since 1971. It was founded by Zvi Glazer the grandfather of our current president Ron Glazer. In the beginning, the products consisted of multi-meters, wattmeters, DMMs and digitizers and over the years we have steadily increased the frequency range of products and now specialize in RF and microwave signal sources. We differentiate in our ability to produce instrument-grade products in very small form factors. You may have used a Tabor product, and not known it; for many years we have been an OEM supplier to the world’s largest T&M companies so the signal generator or arbitrary waveform generator on your bench could be a Tabor Instrument inside. Over the past few years, we have refocused our organization and are now committed to growing our fifth and sixth-generation product platforms under the Tabor brand. And now in 2023, we are launching products with a 40 GHz frequency range, another small footprint innovation that we will deploy in multiple form factors from PXIe modules to multi-channel rack mount signal generators.
2. What do you think defines the company’s longevity?
We always say to our customers, “we’ve been in business for 50 years and we intend to be with you for the next 50 years.” Our longevity is three-fold; understanding the markets and applications that drive the requirements for product platform generation, finding the early partner/beta customers to validate our offering and then quickly executing the release of new features in the market as requirements morph. Then repeat for the next generation. This consistency creates strength in the market, although you’ll be surprised how many companies lose their way when competition enters and their innovation becomes a commodity. Fortunately, this is not Tabor.
3. What excites you about your role as Chief Marketing Officer within Tabor?
What excites me currently is our global expansion; about three years ago I created a US office, then we made a European office, an India office and now a Chinese office and we will continue to expand into Japan and Southeast Asia. All these offices require support from training to seminar tours; creating world-class products and the go-to-market punch that makes us successful is extremely enjoyable and engaging. I have always loved technical marketing, especially test equipment; I’ve had a long and extremely fulfilling career in RF and microwave test and have enjoyed understanding each technology inflection, finding a solution to a customer problem and then articulating our innovation and how it helps solve some of the modern world’s most complex technology problems. So, combining my experience with what’s required to fuel our growth is a fantastic opportunity.
4. What motivated you to start the U.S. operation of Tabor and what’s that journey looked like?
I was a Tabor customer, and we required the then 4th Generation product. One key differentiation was that this product was not only a direct-to-IF AWG, but it also had extremely fast memory switching. I was working in the electronic warfare (EW) segment at the time and this was a key requirement that many test and measurement companies failed to recognize. As a customer I got to learn about the company and its people, basically its DNA and when the time came, Ron, our president asked me to start a U.S. operation. I’d been a senior manager (director/vice president) in quite a few of the major T&M companies, but this opportunity gave me the chance to create a business from scratch, not only in terms of the mechanics of setting up a company, e.g., registration, incorporation, banking, payroll, taxes, etc. But at the same time build out a multi-channel sales organization, define the go-to-market strategies, set goals and targets and bring to market the new direct-to-RF AWG, what we call Proteus and a new class of analog signal generators that we gave the name Lucid.
5. How do you look at your key markets and how does Tabor address their needs?
Our key market verticals are radar/EW, physics and next-generation communications. I always go back to the MIT Radiation Lab (Rad Lab) which was set up as a radar research lab in 1940 and the Manhattan Project i.e., the development of the atom bomb at Los Alamos when talking about our verticals; of course, this may be industrial folklore, but it does help frame our markets nicely. Starting in 1942, the Manhattan Project absorbed several of the Rad Lab physicists into Los Alamos and Ernest Lawrence's facility at Berkeley. They used many of the same techniques and apparatus. For example, to detect a radar target, you transmit an electromagnetic (EM) wave and listen for the return frequency or reflection that represents the distance to an object. To detect atomic resonance, you transmit an EM wave and listen for the resonant frequency of a particular sample substance. In both cases, radar and physics, you are transmitting a large, pulsed EM wave and listening for a small-signal return, so fundamentally the measurement is the same. Transmission modulation techniques and processing are different but a direct-to-RF DAC and ADC, such as what is at the heart of our Proteus arbitrary waveform transceiver can address those differences. This provides the hardware horsepower, then we address the difference between radar, physics and communications with software. We employ focused application engineers and scientists to ensure that we meet the exacting needs of our customers.
6. You mention quantum physics as one of your target markets; can you tell me more about this?
Quantum physics is one of the major scientific breakthroughs of the twentieth century. Even though we still don’t quite understand how it works, we know enough to develop diodes, transistors and lasers, which are fundamental building blocks for many of the technologies we use today. Recently, quantum computing has been gaining a lot of attention. Classical computing bits have two states: one and a zero. A quantum computer bit, or Qubit, can have a state of one, zero and one and zero simultaneously, making it very useful for both advanced encryptions and code-breaking or decryption. These technologies are still in their infancy and no one player dominates the market yet. We’ve seen a lot of growth in this sector and have created a new division, Tabor Quantum Solutions, to address this market. We recently introduced the EureQa and SpeQtra platforms specifically to address the needs of quantum computing and nuclear magnetic spectroscopy.
7. What does 2023 look like for Tabor Instruments? Any new products on the horizon?
Outside of quantum computing, as mentioned earlier, 2023 defines our entry into the mmWave market. At both the IMS show in San Diego and European Microwave Week in Berlin, we will be showcasing the new LSX series of analog signal generators with frequency ranges up to 40 GHz, closely followed by a wideband mmWave vector signal generator.