Philips Components adopts mini‐company structure

A new form of organizational structure is helping the giant Philips electronics company to gain more improvements and innovations from workers on the shopfloor at one of its components plants. Philips Components has adopted the mini‐company concept at its Roermond factory in The Netherlands. The plant makes ceramic multilayer actuators, an important device for inkjet printers, for a Japanese customer. Demand for the product is rising quickly but the market is very dynamic. Short time‐to‐market, high flexibility and tough competition are typical. So, too, is close co‐operation with the customer on product development.