2017 Limerick Chamber Regional Business Awards Best Innovation (RD&I) Winner Interview

Name                    John Blake, ON Semiconductor R&D Centre Director

Email                     John.Blake@onsemi.com

Website              www.onsemi.com

 

You won “Best Innovation (RD&I)” what do your customers value most about your business?

Our customers like the quality of our technology and products, and the flexibility and willingness that our team shows in responding to the needs of our customers in the most effective way they can.

 

How will winning “Best Innovation (RD&I)” affect your business?

I believe this award will be very well received by the ON Semi R&D team in Limerick as a significant endorsement of their work.

It will be a valuable advertising tool to help with recruitment of new engineers onto our team. Our recruitment rate has increased during the past couple of years (this year we will have hired about 20 by the end of the year) and it’s always important that we can attract the best talent.

It’s also an award that we can make visible to our customers when they visit our office in Limerick, and use in our promotional material when we meet with them at their locations around the world.

 

What / Who inspired you to start ON Semiconductor?

The business was acquired by ON Semiconductor from Analog Devices at the start of 2008. During the past 10 years, the team in Limerick has grown to three times its original size and along the way moved into a new state-of-the-art R&D Centre in Raheen with over €5M invested in the facility during the past 5 years.

 

What is the biggest lesson you have learnt in business?

It’s all about the quality of the team and the energy they show in going about their work. Having a self-motivated committed team working together in support of the goals of the business will inevitably result in success.

 

Any advice for new business owners just getting started?

There will be good days and bad days. During a bad day, it’s critical to keep working through a problem and be confident that there is a path to success, even if that’s not evident at that moment in time.

 

What is your proudest moment as a business owner?

There isn’t a single moment, but over time it’s great to see the team work and learn together, grow in their capability and be able to take on bigger and more complex challenges as each year goes by. Looking back, over say 5 years, to see what progress has been made makes me most proud.

 

View our winners presentation video 

 

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