Philips Semiconductors

Patents / Market Research

If you live in the developed world chances are good that – at one time or another -- you have used a product driven by a chip from Philips Semiconductors. That’s because one in every two telephones and one in every three televisions in the entire world contains at least one of their chips.

Philips Semiconductors, headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is Europe’s fourth largest semiconductor company with revenues of US$ 4.5 billion in 1998. Twenty-seven thousand employees in over 100 locations produce and support the manufacture of over 50 million integrated circuits and discrete devices every day.

Philips Semiconductors is an affiliate of Royal Philips Electronics, Europe’s largest electronics company with revenues of US$ 33.9 billion in 1998. Founded over 100 years ago, Philips is active in lighting, consumer electronics, domestic appliances, components, semiconductors, medical systems, business electronics, and information technology.

In June of 1999, Philips Semiconductors acquired VLSI Technology of San Jose, CA. VLSI brought a reputation as one of the foremost designers and manufacturers of custom and semi-custom integrated circuits for leading names in the wireless communications, networking, consumer digital entertainment and advanced computing businesses.

Oh, and they brought one more thing: DB/Text® WebPublisher.

Increasing Efficiency

In the wake of the merger, Cliff Mills, Philips Semiconductors Information Resource Manager (and formerly of VLSI), was charged with the responsibility of linking Philips Semiconductors with the former VLSI so that information could readily flow throughout the organization.

Mills, who had been using Inmagic products even before he arrived at VLSI, knew that DB/Text WebPublisher – which he had deployed at VLSI -- was the perfect way to manage and disseminate information on the Philips Semiconductors corporate Intranet.

"It’s been estimated by people at Philips and VLSI that DB/Text WebPublisher has doubled their technical expertise because it gives them access to so many resources," says Mills. "One person told me he believes it has made him six times more efficient because he can find what he needs when he needs it.

"There’s no question if you give people access to information in a timely manner that it will make them more productive. DB/Text WebPublisher allows us to do that."

Easy to Customize

As part of a corporate Intranet project, Mills was looking for a product that was flexible and easy to use. DB/Text WebPublisher passed muster on both counts.

"There are a lot of turnkey solutions out there," said Mills. "But you have to use the fields the way you see them.

"One of the best things about DB/Text WebPublisher is that you can customize it in so many ways. You can add graphics, adjust the size of boxes, change the background; really tailor it to your specific needs.

It allows us to make the system have a real Philips feel to it."

This ability to customize also leads to a more user-friendly experience.

"We realize people may not have the exact spelling of an author’s name, or the exact title of an article," said Mills. "With DB/Text WebPublisher, we are able to provide a variant spelling field. So this flexibility allows us to think about how people are going to look for information, and it allows us to set up a system that is most responsive to the user’s needs."

Patents Database

The most acclaimed web application within Philips Semiconductors is its patents database, which is used extensively by the product development and the legal departments.

DB/Text WebPublisher facilitates the integration of internal and external information within a single database, and Philips Semiconductors takes full advantage of that by linking its patents database to the United States Patent Office.

"DB/Text WebPublisher is a great research tool," said Mills. "It allows the scientists to do the initial research so they won’t duplicate existing patents. If they need some assistance, it allows them to go on-line and find out whom is doing cutting edge research in their area in the corporation anywhere in the world.

"When it comes to intellectual property, you don’t have to manufacture something to make money. You can do quite well just licensing it. With DB/Text WebPublisher, we have full patent images and a link to the Patents Office. This database empowers the Legal Department to find opportunities to generate royalties."

Market Research

The Marketing Department generates and buys thousands of research reports a year. With 100 offices worldwide, DB/Text WebPublisher allows the Marketing Department to share information in real time.

"I can’t believe how we used to circulate these reports," said Mills. "We’d send out a list of new reports, people would send back the list with the reports they wanted circled, then we would send them a paper copy. It was incredibly laborious. Email wasn’t much better; we’d clog up the system with attachments.

"With DB/Text WebPublisher, I only have one electronic copy to worry about. And it gives a worldwide organization access to the material in real time. That makes a big difference."

Mills currently has 15,000 records stored on DB/Text WebPublisher, and expects that number to double shortly.

"DB/Text WebPublisher puts the ball in the user’s court," he said. "It puts more information at their fingertips on the desktop. And that frees me up to spend more time looking for additional resources for the Information Resource Center."

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Revised: 03/19/04