NRM Test Solutions, Inc. has evolved from a company previously known as Hines and Associates, Inc. (HAI). HAI was for many years, Silicon Valleys leading independent ATE service company until it was acquired by GE Capital in December, 1996. Originally headquartered in Santa Clara, Ca., HAI was founded in 1978 by Tom Hines, who left Fairchild Systems Technology (now LTX-Credence) to strike out on his own when Fairchild shied away from third-party maintenance. Tom Hines was quickly joined by three more employees of Fairchild's service organization; Tom Engels, who became its V.P. of marketing, Dan Netzley, HAI depot operations manager and Marcus Rodriguez, staff engineer. By 1996, HAI had thirty (30) employees and claimed $4 million in capital equipment at its 14,000 square foot facility, including a wide array of systems and fixtures to support LTX, Sentry, MCT, Teradyne, Xincom and Accutest testers. Its business consisted of depot support (30%), field service (30%) and used system repair and resale (40%). Almost half of its income came from outside the U.S.
In early 1996, Tom Hines and Tom Engels began thinking about retirement and in December of that year, closed a deal to be acquired by GE Capital. GE Capital consisted of twenty three (23) discrete businesses, in four major categories and claimed to be the world’s largest lessor, with over $100 billion in assets. The two major shareholders of HAI, Tom Hines and Tom Engels, remained with the company during a transition period. GE moved the operation to a new facility in San Jose and combined it with three other semiconductor equipment operations-including what was originally front-end reseller “The Source”, to form GE Capital Electronic Services and to compete with Comdisco Electronic Services. By the end of 1997, Tom Hines had left to spend full time helping his wife run the Old Saw Mill Lodge, a rustic bed and breakfast inn located in the hills above Pescadero, Ca. Tom Engels moved to his 3000 foot “fishing cabin” on the Rogue River in Oregon. The other two HAI founders, Dan Netzley and Marcus Rodriguez, along with most of the other HAI employees, remained with GE.
