INSIGHT
NEWCASTLE OFFICE ADVANTECH
Situated in the North East UK, 20 minutes’ drive from Newcastle International Airport and central train station, lays the base of Advantech’s Gaming Solution division. Given the size and scale of Advantech, you might expect a sprawling complex of offices, laboratories, sub-assembly facilities, but Advantech’s gaming HQ is, in a word, humble. You’d think it was a small-ish company, not part of the world’s largest IPC company with revenues topping US$2.3bn.
During G3 Media’s visit, it transpires this modest and self-effacing building is a physical manifestation of a mentality that Edward Price and his team have sought to maintain over 27 hugely successful years.
DENSITRON, INNOCORE, ADVANTECH
Edward joined Densitron in May 1997 as an engineer. Te company, a PLC at the time, created a range of displays and was branching into industrial computer products. After creating a series of single board computers, Densitron attracted the attention of an American company from the gaming industry. Identifying its products as applicable to their market, a successful board was created and the PLC later split into sub-brands, one being Densitron Gaming with Edward appointed as Managing Director.
“We had both successes and challenges as a public company, which led the PLC to divest and refocus on their core display products,” explains Edward. “Resultingly, I instigated a management buyout (MBO) of Densitron Gaming from Densitron PLC in 2006, which led to the establishment of what is now, this office and many of the original Gaming team are still with us now, particularly the technical guys.”
Aidan Dixon, Associate Director of Software, has been at the company for nearly 20 years after spending a decade at Sun Microsystems, a company later purchased by Oracle. “My background is platform software - drivers, SDKs, firmware for controllers, that sort of thing – and although I progressed to dir. level, I still like to get hands-on and involved. My experience puts me in a good position to know what other developers want from their software development requirements which informs what we offer our customers.”
Another essential team member is Derek Johnson, Hardware Engineering Manager. Now in his 19th year, Derek has been with the company across its three iterations having started out as hardware engineer. “I've always been interested in electronics, technology, fault- finding, debugging, fixing, coming up with new solutions.”
“Customers are getting the best of both worlds. They get a division that's totally focused on the vertical with a highly experienced team that’s been involved in the industry for 20 years-plus. Customers can call anyone and get an immediate, agile response as one would expect from a small company. But they only need look at the success of the wider group to see the scale of our business. We’re not a limited company - we're a product division. Our customers can see the big picture, they know we’re financially strong, we’re growing, have all the
manufacturing facilities they
require, and we’re continuously investing."
Edward Price
Craig Stapleton, the company’s Product Director based in the Los Angeles office, has been working with Edward since the early days alongside Koen Stomph, Director of Business Development Infotainment. Te three were instigators of the MBO and part-owners. Densitron Gaming was subsequently rebranded as Innocore Gaming - "Inno" for innovation and "core" referring to the core of the gaming machine.
Together, they ran Innocore Gaming for five years, growing and supporting a number of customers the company still has today. Te trio completed the management buy-out and expand the company, quickly becoming profitable in the first couple of years and in February 2011, Innocore Gaming was sold to Advantech.
“We decided it was a good time to sell and put feelers out. We'd successfully grown the business, but to engage with tier one customers and continue our growth trajectory certain things were required from their supplier base; namely financial strength and self-owned
manufacturing facility. As a small limited company these were beyond our reach,” reflects Edward.
Manufacturing facilities for the board types Advantech’s Gaming Solution division produces entails huge costs and necessitates significant, ongoing investment to be competitive. Acknowledging the business would struggle to reach the next level or keep growth on a strong footing indefinitely unless something was done differently, Innocore Gaming approached several IPC companies, Advantech being one.
“Ultimately, there was a good synergy and fit with Advantech because they didn't have a gaming division. And here we are 13 years later.”
Metrics matter. Tey always matter, especially in a globalised organisation. Advantech has been running 40 years and has experienced outstanding growth rate for the last decade.
However, a personal highlight for Edward has been retaining that small company mentality despite the success. Te Gaming Solution division is part of a US$2.3bn, 9,000 people strong company, yet it has its own dedicated team solely focused on the gaming industry.
CUSTOMER SERVICE MENTALITY
Derek joined when the business subcontracted manufacturing. At the time there were four engineers - a hardware manager and engineer, a software manager and engineer. Fresh out of university, his job quickly became every job. “If there anything that needed repairs or investigation, I did that,” Derek reflects. “Within a couple of weeks, I was handling a project to design new connector boards, I/O boards, customer interfaces. Te experience gave me great insight to how our products work and are used by customers, which is something we instil throughout the company.
“Customers are getting the best of both worlds,” explains Edward. “Tey get a division that's totally focused on the vertical with a highly experienced team that’s been involved in the industry for 20 years-plus. Customers can call anyone and get an immediate, agile response as one would expect from a small company. But they only need look at the success of the wider group to see the scale of our business.
“We’re not a limited company - we're a product division. We’re not a legal entity, we are an integral part of Advantech. Our customers can see the big picture, they know we’re financially strong, we’re growing, have all the manufacturing facilities they require, and we’re continuously investing.”
Our customers are varied, Derek explains. Some WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176
