Mandate for Power with Collaboration and Co-creation Date:   Wednesday , February 09, 2011 “There is a word in the Chinese language called weiji which is made up of two characters - ‘wei’ denoting ‘risk’ and ‘ji’ denoting ‘opportunity’. “Our company epitomizes this” says N. Ramakrishnan (Ramki), President & CEO of Mandate Chips and Circuits. “Mandate started operations in the thick of the economic recession two years ago and in this period, we have focused on opportunities in the area of power semiconductors and pioneered cutting edge designs to become a strong player in this field” he adds. Company Profile Mandate (derived from Mixed, Analog, Digital and Advanced Technology) is a collaborative semiconductor product development company. Its charter is to provide semiconductor engineering solutions through an engagement model that fosters collaboration as well as co-creation. Mandate’s focus is in the area of mixed signal and power management semiconductors and it has strong background and expertise in these domains. Its team has good knowledge about semiconductors for the consumer electronics, mobile telecomm and automotive industry verticals and considerable experience in designing products for the same. Privately held and ISO 9001:2008 certified, it has presence in India, Singapore, Japan, Hongkong, and the U.S. and its customer list includes leading hi-tech, electronics and semiconductor companies, primarily from the Asia Pacific region. The company’s suite of offerings consists of the following: 1. Project and Roadmap based Product / IP Development – New Designs 2. Sustenance and Maintenance of Mature Designs – example Derivatives / Variants 3. Engineering Solutions with Value Addition – example Increase NPI (New Product Introduction) Mandate’s team of highly experienced and motivated engineers and managers are constantly striving for technological innovation and business excellence. Being a cutting edge technology company, Mandate organizes customized programs for its staff on a regular basis to keep them abreast of the trends and ahead of the curve. Comprehensive Product Development Mandate’s approach to semiconductor product development is comprehensive and holistic. It covers all the phases relevant to the semiconductor product lifecycle — from requirements to obsolescence. Broadly, this comprises the innovation, execution, maintenance and support phases with several activities coming under each phase. Over the years, its team has acquired skillsets and capabilities to participate in any or all of these phases. This unique aspect makes Mandate an ideal partner for semiconductor product development. Mandate has also gained rich experience and valuable insights into design methodologies and flows, processes, operations, project management, cultural and communications aspects of several companies. These attributes are also embedded into the product development process as they are critical for success. Unique Design Profile The designs done by Mandate consist of R & D as well as mainstream product designs. These include chips in the areas of DC-DC Converters (buck, boost and buck-boost type), White LED Drivers, LDOs, Battery Chargers, Power SoCs, Brushless Fan Motor Drivers, Data Converters, SERDES, LVDS, High Speed Transceivers and the like. Mandate also ensures that its designs comply with industry specific and special requirements. For example the chips it has designed for automotive electronics have high reliability, low EMI emission and ability to function in stringent environmental conditions (high temperatures & extreme voltage variations). Semiconductor Ecosystem The semiconductor ecosystem comprises components and entities that go into transforming requirements into a semiconductor chip which eventually finds a place in a system or product. Activities related to this include design & development, IP creation & validation, EDA tool and foundry support, application support, testing & verification, product engineering, packaging and industry / academic research and support. “With a flexible business model that offers a variety of engagement options, Mandate can blend seamlessly into the semiconductor ecosystem to deliver business benefits that lead to customer success” says Ramki. “These differentiating features have given Mandate added visibility in the industry and are helping forge new partnerships across several geographies” he adds. Positioning Mandate understands that customer requirements are driven by business rather than technology issues. The company is positioned in the value chain in such a manner that its relationships with suppliers and partners lead to symbiotic engagements. This has led to Mandate having collaboration with an enviable list of organizations comprising the who’s who of the hi-tech, electronics, automotive and semiconductor industries. Knowledge of multiple EDA tool flows, exposure to a range of processes and technologies and association with multiple foundries gives Mandate the leverage to develop new Products and IPs for customers, with quick turnaround time. Going a step further, Mandate leverages relationships with Tier1 / Tier2 Suppliers, Partners and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) to enable efficient collaborative product development for specific requirements. The value addition in this case again translates directly into business benefits for its customers. More than Collaboration - Co-creation “Collaboration is a given with Mandate and this has always been one of our key value propositions” says Ramki. Mandate’s approach to collaboration, however, is distinctly different. There is involvement right from the requirements gathering stage and it goes all the way to the production stage and beyond, covering the entire gamut of the semiconductor product life cycle. Mandate is seen, not just as a service provider but as an extension of the customer organization - a reliable partner that can get under its skin with the capability to innovate and provide solutions for its current and future requirements. “Mandate realizes that success lies in leveraging on experiences to derive insights that lead to improvements in the nature of its interactions with Customers, Suppliers and Partners. This has led Mandate to imbibe a new paradigm called Co-creation that sets it apart from the competition. Mandate and the relevant entities come together to facilitate their individuals to participate in value creation through personal engagements and participation” explains Ramki. Going Forward “The last two years have been tough for companies across the board including semiconductor companies. Mandate has weathered the storm and emerged strong in the process” explains Ramki. The economic situation has since improved and emerging economies, driven primarily by China and India, are growing at a fast pace. The semiconductor market is poised for a period of consolidation and growth. Device convergence, alternative energy, affordable and power efficient electronic devices will augment growth and continue to be strong driving factors for the semiconductor industry in the coming years. Against this backdrop, Mandate is well positioned, since it has carved a niche in the domains that encompass these driving factors. Also, Mandate’s focus has been the Asia Pacific region so far. However, now on a growth mode, there are plans to expand into U.S. and Europe. “This is the ‘Year of the Rabbit’ - we want to capitalize on this by growing ‘Leaps and Bounds’ says Ramki.