Silica Takes Aim at European Power Market

Silica is making a seven figure Euros investment to increase its share of the power semiconductor market in Europe.
It has launched Power ‘n More, an initiative which it says will be able to shepherd design engineers from design conception to finished product.
“We are building a powerhouse of expertise to foster power ideas. This isn’t a marketing ploy. We are making a big investment financially and in people”, said Karl Heinz Weigl, regional vice president of sales for Central Europe who has been appointed Executive Sponsor of the project.
“Designers need more and more support to meet the growing wave of regulations and directives aimed at power efficiency. Through Power ‘n More we aim to establish ourselves as the Power Experts among European customers and suppliers,” he added.
The distributor will assign a team of 14 dedicated field applications engineers (FAEs), which includes new hires. They have all undergone an intensive 1700 hours of in-depth training. They will be supported by 25 analogue FAEs with 800 hours of training and 55 digital FAEs who have participated in 400 hours of training.
Silica is also well into the planning stages for five dedicated power laboratories in Europe. These will be based in Munich, Milan Paris and yet to be decided locations in the UK and Nordic region. The power FAE team will also have access to a power simulator which will enable them with the customer to check whether the product design is right for the application.
Weigl will be supported by Franco Montanari, the Power Projects Manager and five new Business Development Managers. The initiative is also backed by 35 independent design houses certified by Silica to support customers. A specialist web site has also been developed to support Power ‘n More.
“The programme is under way,” commented Weigl. “In Phase One we will take a horizontal approach to the market place and once this has been established by Spring next year we will move to Phase Two looking at vertical markets.”
The distributor has the backing of all its power semiconductor suppliers, described by Weigl as “la crème de la crème”. These include Texas Instruments, Maxim, International Rectifier, Infineon, NXP and ON Semiconductor.