Papken Der Torossian, Executive Chairman, Vistec Semiconductor Systems
Alexander E. Braun -- Semiconductor International, 9/1/2006
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| Papken Der Torossian (Source: Vistec Semiconductor Systems) |
Papken Der Torossian is executive chairman of Vistec Semiconductor Systems Group Inc. , and chairman of the board of Therma-Wave Inc. He was previously chairman of the board and CEO of Silicon Valley Group Inc. (SVG), which was acquired by ASML. Der Torossian has served as chairman of the AEA Silicon Valley Council and the AEA International Public Affairs Committee. From 1990 to 1992, he was chairman of SEMI/Sematech. He is a visiting alumnus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a trustee of the University of California (Santa Cruz), and participates and advises entrepreneurs in startup companies. He was president of ECS Microsystems, a communication computer venture startup sold to Ampex Corp., president of the Santa Cruz division of Plantronics Inc., and prior to that spent four years at Spectra-Physics, and 12 with Hewlett-Packard in a variety of engineering and management positions. Der Torossian holds a BSME from MIT and an MSME from Stanford University. He also pursued an MBA program at the University of Santa Clara. Vistec Semiconductor Systems Group (formerly Leica Micro-systems, Semiconductor Equipment Division, Wetzlar, Germany) has a range of inspection, defect detection and classification metrology systems for mask and wafer manufacturing, as well as variable-shape e-beam and Gaussian systems for lithography on wafer, mask and other substrates. It has 523 employees worldwide, and in 2005 generated annual sales revenues of 94 million euros (~$120M).
SI: Last year, Leica's semiconductor operation was bought by an investment company, and in February it acquired a new personality as well as a new CFO when it became Vistec. What can you tell us about this transition?
Der Torossian: Leica Microsystems is about a $500M company involved in biology, biotechnology, microscopes and so forth, and its semiconductor part has been somewhat of an orphan, representing about a quarter of their income. They were more interested in the biotech arena, so when an investment company bought Leica, it did not want the semiconductor operation and kept it on the market for two years. Finally, a financial group I am associated with bought it and asked me to run it for them.
SI: Taking over must not have been easy.
Der Torossian: Indeed not! One of the reasons the division was on the market for two years is that it's a very complex organization and business. This turned away several potential buyers. I had the experience of having gone through several acquisitions and went right in.
SI: What were some of the complex aspects?
Der Torossian: The division was integrated into the larger Leica Microsystems organization, and this created some disadvantages. For example, the MRP system that ran the manufacturing operation was part of the larger Leica organization. This was also true of the IT systems, the financial structure, human resources, the policies, everything. They didn't have independent operations. Additionally, they had multiple geographic sites, multiple corporate cultures. We had to wean them from all this, and establish our own capabilities and financial controls. This took time.
SI: But there were also opportunities.
Der Torossian: Of course. We bought the division for its people, technology, quality and reputation with their customers, all of which are excellent.
SI: What effect did all this untangling have on its support facilities around the world?
Der Torossian: In the last six months, we have brought excellent executives on board and reestablished these facilities. In fact, we recently hired a new president for China. We now have our own presence in Asia and, besides China, we're active in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea. Fortunately, we already had the field engineers, so we just reorganized the operation and hired more people where needed. We haven't missed a beat over the transition, and have been able to ensure service continuity.
SI: Were there any major problems?
Der Torossian: Not really. The task involved was mostly working toward stabilizing the organization. We have three general managers who were there before, but were, as I remarked, orphans. They're now of primary importance and this shows. Of course, the fact that business is currently in an upswing has been of considerable help.
SI: From what you say, it seems you were able to keep most of the technical people who worked there when the company belonged to Leica.
Der Torossian: Absolutely! One of the good things about the places where we're situated in Germany and England is that these are relatively isolated areas (not like Silicon Valley), where people have lived for many years and they don't leave. This is both good and bad. It's good because you get continuity of technology and know-how. It's bad because, on occasion, it tends to limit your flexibility. The short of it is that we get to keep the resident know-how.
SI: So you didn't have to lay off any of the staff?
Der Torossian: Not really. Before we took over, Leica had already done some restructuring in this sense, so it was kept to a minimum when we came in. We're ready for growth and expansion, have a robust R&D effort, and are looking for additional technologies to add to our capabilities.
SI: Are you considering further acquisitions?
Der Torossian: Yes, we are. And we'd also consider partnerships and mergers. The metrology arena needs more consolidation. Meanwhile, we must continue to grow. When you don't grow, you end up losing market share.
SI: Although you're putting out platforms with the Vistec brand, there are still several products with the Leica name on them. How long will this continue?
Der Torossian: Our agreement is to keep it until September 2006. After that, the platforms will have the Vistec name. Naturally, we will continue offering service and maintenance for the Leica line.
SI: How did you come up with the Vistec name?
Der Torossian: We thought up and went through 300 names, which we eventually narrowed down to five. It is amazing how many of these were already taken or in conflict with others, precluding us from getting international protection. Then there were cultural issues: Some of the names meant different things — some undesirable — in other languages. We finally brought it down for Vistec, which means “visionary technologies.”
SI: You have been involved in our industry in a worldwide basis. What would you say are some of the differences between working in the United States and elsewhere?
Der Torossian: It depends. For example, in Germany, people tend to be more far reaching in their thinking and planning. They don't plan to quit, but rather think of their job as something permanent. In the U.S., if an employee doesn't like you or the job, he's gone. It reminds me of how things were at Hewlett-Packard, back in the old days. You never thought of leaving the company; you always thought of yourself and it as “we're the best, we're going to stick together, and we're going to win!” Now, most people look at themselves as individual contributors instead of part of a team and if they're displeased, they decide to go and contribute elsewhere. It's an entirely different attitude.
SI: Anything you would like to see changed, in that respect, here in the United States?
Der Torossian: There are excellent employers, such as Intel, HP and others, who treat their people with dignity and respect, and are sensitive to their lives and incomes. They plan ahead for downturns. For example, when I was at HP, whenever they saw the cloud of a downturn gathering in the horizon, they'd stop hiring to avoid having to go through layoffs during the lean times. Managers in the United States should be more responsive in terms of planning ahead, and not deal with their employees as if they were interchangeable units; they should try to grow their people. We owe people a good environment for success. The need for flexibility must be tempered by more of a commitment on the employer's part.
