Here's How Philips Is Making a Service out of Innovation

Brought to you by WBR Insights

Innovation lies at the heart of every successful brand. It's innovation that transformed Amazon from a simple online bookseller to the massive ecommerce behemoth we know and have conflicting feelings about today.

It's certainly a word that gets thrown around a lot, but how often do we sit down and really think about what innovation means? Taking an existing concept or idea and delivering it in a new way is the secret to making your business stand out in the modern crowded marketplace — but creating a culture of innovation within an organization can be challenging. Nonetheless, the brands which can achieve this are likely to be the industry leaders of the future.

This desire is what has led Philips to launch Philips Innovation Services — a brand that is approaching the topic of innovation in a new and... well, innovative way.

Philips

Philips Innovation Services aims to bring together all the skills, experience, methods, and tools required to drive innovative thinking and development in a reliable, cost-efficient, and effective way — creating a bridge for each innovation journey to help take these great ideas from concept to market. Altogether, they will help every corner of Philips, from logistics to field service, become a bigger and better machine.

"Philips has a 125+ year heritage of innovation," says Philips. "Innovation and entrepreneurship are deeply rooted in our organization. It is our purpose to improve people's lives through meaningful innovation. Turning great ideas into meaningful innovations is at the core of our company. It defines our reputation and our success [...] Driven by our deep technical creativity, we take on the highly complex challenges. We continue where others stop."

At the center of Philips Innovation Services is the High-Tech Campus in Eindhoven. Serving as an innovation center for Philips, the High-Tech Campus has a major difference in that it welcomes innovative thinkers from all over the world.

"Turning your brilliant ideas into working innovations that make life better is our drive and our deliverable. How? By tapping into a huge pool of tools, methods, expertise and experience, and bringing together exactly what is needed to optimally solve each specific challenge along the way. The result? Innovation that works - in every sense of the word. As a High-Tech Campus Eindhoven neighbor, it is very easy for you to come by and access our expertise and facilities."

This culture of open innovation is what is driving real change at Philips. Welcoming external companies into its fold creates an environment where competing brands come together in the spirit of sharing knowledge and creating a global platform through which to do so.

"Open innovation for us means that we are open to companies outside Philips," said Philips Innovation Services Sales Director, Robbert van der Waal. "That means that we share knowledge as far as we can. Respecting both Philips' interests and our customers' interests. By strict IP and legal regulations. And by doing so we can share platforms, so we can strengthen our platforms and capabilities continuously."

MEMS and Micro Devices

One of the core technologies being developed by Philips Innovation Services revolves around MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) and Micro Devices. The rise of the Internet of Things has created a demand for ever smaller sensors and actuators. It's microdevice technology such as this which is enabling field service providers carry out predictive maintenance by being alerted to failing components before they cause large-scale shout-downs which can interrupt productivity, cost revenue, or, when it comes to Philip's medical device products, even harm clinical outcomes and cost lives.

"You can find MEMS everywhere, but they are hidden," added van der Waal. "You need to look very good. MEMS are for example in cellphones, that's the biggest application area. In cellphones you'll find microphones, typically MEMS microphones. You'll find speakers, MEMS speakers. Sensors, like temperature sensors, shock sensors, acceleration sensors, all made with MEMS technology."

The so-called MEMS Foundry is a 2650 m² facility and a critical part of High-Tech Campus in Eindhoven. While the campus itself has been around for a quarter of a century, its recent adoption of Philips Innovation Services and its global community of progress and development is making the facility ever more crucial to the future direction of the brand.

Final Thoughts

Innovation has always been and will always be at the heart of technology brands such as Philips. It's great to see it creating this global community of knowledge sharing and fresh thinking. If the future is in collaboration, then endeavors such as Philips Innovation Services are the vehicle that will take us there.

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Innovation and collaboration are set to be hot topics at Field Service Palm Springs 2020, taking place in April at the JW Marriott Palm Desert Resort & Spa, CA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.