Philips: Let's make things

The Philips story

The foundation of the world biggest electronics company were laid in 1891 when Gerard Philips established a company in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, to manufacture light bulbs and other electrical products. In the beginning, it concentrated on making carbon-filament lamps and by the turn of the century was one of the largest producers in Europe. Developments in new lightning technologies fuelled a steady programme of expansion and, in 1914, it established a research laboratory to stimulate product innovation.

In the 1920s, Philips decided to protect its innovations in X-ray radiation and radio reception with patents. This marked the beginning of the diversification of its product range. Since then, Philips has continued to develop new and exciting product ideas like the compact disc, which it launched in 1983. Other interesting landmarks include the production of Philips' 100-millionth TV set in 1984 and 250-millionth Philishave electric shaver in 1989.

The Philips Company

Philips' headquarters are still in Eindhoven. It employs 256,400 people all over the world, and has sales and service outlets in 150 countries. Research laboratories are located in six countries, staffed by some 3,000 scientists. It also has an impressive global network of some 400 designers spread over twenty-five locations. Its shares are listed on sixteen stock exchanges in nine countries and it is active in about 100 businesses, including lightning, monitors, shavers and colour picture tubes; each day its factories turn out a total of 50 million integrated circuits.

The Philips people

Royal Philips Electronics is managed by the Board of management, which looks after the general direction and long-term strategy of the Philips group as a whole. The Supervisory Board monitors the general course of business of the Philips group as well as advising the board of management and supervising its policies. These policies are implemented by the Group Management Committee

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also serves to ensure that business issues and practices are shared across the various activities in the group.

The company creed is "Let's make things better". It is committed to making better products and systems are contributing to improving the quality of people's work and life. One recent example of this is its 'Genie' mobile phone. To dial a number you just have to say it aloud. Its Web TV internet terminal brings the excitement of cyberspace into the living room. And on travels around the world, whether passing the Eiffel Tower in Paris, walking across London's Tower Bridge, or witnessing the beauty of the ancient pyramids of Giza, you don't have to wonder any more who lit these world famous landmarks, it was Philips.

Vocabulary

1. Match the words from the text with their corresponding definitions.

1 an innovation a a planned series of actions

2 a patent b main offices

3 diversification c a place or address

4 a range d the introduction of a new idea

5 headquarters e a selection of series

6 a location f making different types of products

7 a strategy g an agreed course of action

8 a policy h the right to make or sell an invention

2. In pairs, replace the words in italics with the words used in the text.

1. Gerard Philips set up (established) a company in Eindhoven.

2. The company initially specialised in (c………………….) making carbon filament lamps.

3. developments in new lightning technologies fuelled a steady plan for growth (p…………. of e…………………).

4. In 1982 it introduced (l………………) the compact disc onto the market.

5. Each day its factories produce (t….…. o……...) a total of 50 million integrated circuits.

6. Royal Philips electronics is run (m……………) by the Board of management.

7. The Supervisory Board carefully watches (m…………….) the general course of business.

8. Policies are put into practice (i…………………….) by the Group Management Committee.

9. The group Management Committee consists of members of the Board of Management and chairmen of most of the product sectors (d……………..).

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10. The group Management Committee serves to ensure that important matters (i………..) and ways of doing business (p……………….) are shared across the company.

3. Complete the passage using words from Vocabulary 1 and 2 in the correct form.

The key to Philips success can be described by two words. The first is innovation; the company designers are continually developing and creating new products. The second is ______________; Philips is active in about 100 businesses varying from consumer electronics to domestic appliances and from security systems to semiconductors. With such a wide ____________ of products the company needs a complex system of management. Each product _______________ has its own chairman; most of these chairmen are members of the Group Management Committee, which ______________all company decisions and plans. The Supervisory board ______________ the general business of the group and it also advises and supervises the Board of Management.

4. A. Read the first paragraph of the text about MTS Systems Corporation and complete the following “fact file”.

MTS Systems Corporation Headquarters in 1___________________ Specialises in 2_______________________________________ Factories located in 3__________, __________ and _________ No. of employees 4___________________

B. Now read the rest of the text, in which Bernard Levesque describes the

organisation of MTS Paris, and complete the organisation chart.

'My name's Bernard Levesque and I'm the Technical and Quality Manager at MTS in Paris and work within the MTD -the Materials Testing Division, which makes equipment used by industrial firms to test the strength and durability of materials like plastics, metals and so forth. We're a subsidiary of MTS Systems Corporation, an American firm based in Minneapolis. MTS employs roughly 2,200 people worldwide and is a leading supplier of mechanical testing and simulation equipment Our major development and manufacturing operations are located in the US,

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France and Germany, and we have sales and service offices around the world.

Before I describe the organisation of my department, I'll outline the structure from the top, starting with Werner Ongyert, our CEO, who oversees all aspects of our activities here, just below him is the General Manager, Jacques Mordelet, who is my immediate superior. Then there's Sylviane Villaret, the Human Resources Director, and Genevieve Cornetti, the GM's Secretary, who also report directly to him. We have a management team that includes myself, Dominique Faurieux, the Sales Manager, jean-Francois Reinauld, the Finance Manager, and of course, Jacques Mordelet, who is also the Marketing Manager. There are also two new departments - Customer Service and NVD, the Noise and Vibration Division - headed by Louis Regnier and Patrick Dhommee respectively.

Now, getting back to the way my department is organised, I'm responsible for operations, so I'm in charge of Purchasing and Planning, R&D and Quality. The Purchasing and Planning Department schedules production based on orders provided by the sales team and forecasts from the Marketing Department. In R&D, there are three sub-departments - Mechanical Engineering, Electronics, and Software Engineering - which are involved in developing new products and modifying existing products to meet customer demands. They receive technical specifications from the Marketing Department and provide drawings, a parts list and assembly instructions. Nathalie Launay works closely with me on Quality - an area that takes up nearly a third of my time. And finally there's the head of Shiping, as well as the person in charge of Assembly, who also report to me.’

C. Circle the world that does not belong in each horizontal group.

1 firm company society subsidiary

2 salary manager engineer employee

3 finance product planning marketing

4 ship assemble customer purchase

5 plant facility patent factory

D. Match the following definitions to the groups of three words that you identified above.

a manufacturing sites ____

b stages in the manufacturing process ____

c people who work in a company ____

d types of business organisation ____

e different departments in a company ____

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E. Match each of the words that you circled with the following definitions.

1 _____________ payment for work, usually monthly

2 _____________ an item that has been made

3______________ an organisation or club with members who share similar

interests

4 ______________ a document that gives the exclusive right to make or sell a new product

5 ______________ a person who buys goods or services