BACHELOR OF SCIENCE in INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

( BSIT )

SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division

Submitted by:

Paul Angelo D. Borro

Submitted to:

Prof. Jimmy De Vera Roldan

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
 SITUATION ANALYSIS
 PROBLEM ANALYSIS
 DECISION ANALYSIS
 POTENTIAL PROBLEM ANALYSIS
 FINDINGS
 RECOMMENDATIONS

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

Introduction/Background

According to Harvard Business School, Dr. Toshi T. Doi, general manager of Sony's
workstation Division, was reviewing a proposal to divide hardware design engineering
into two separate departments in July 1989. The split was proposed by Isao Yamazaki,
manager of the hardware design engineering department, to help relieve the pressures of
extremely rapid growth while maintaining past strengths in product development and to
make workstation designs more manufacturable.

The Workstation Division had grown to annual sales of approximately 2,600 units in
just over 3 years, giving it the largest share in Japan’s workstation market.

Masaru Ibuka founded the Tokyo telecommunications engineer company "or SONY"
in 1945, shortly after World War II ended, and was soon joined by his friend Akio
Morita. During its first decades, Sony focused almost entirely on consumer electronics,
introducing a diverse range of products that included the world's first tape recorder, the
Trinitron color TV, the Walkman line of portable radios and tape recorders, and the
Camcorder video camera. Sony Corporation had become a recognized leader in the
consumer electronics field as a result of these products, with more than $16 billion in
worldwide sales in 1988.

Throughout this growth period, Sony relied on innovative products that created new
markets. Morita explained the firm’s philosophy she said “We don’t Believe in doing
market research for a new product unknown to the public. So, we never do any. We are
the Experts”. During the 1970’s one of the most promising new products to be developed
at Sony was the Betamax VCR. Unfortunately, several of Sony’s competitors adopted the
VHS standard and, after a long and costly battle, Sony Admitted defeat by introducing a
VHS model in 1988.

The company began to pay more attention to expanding its markets in existing lines in
addition to developing totally new products.

One side effect of Sony’s preoccupation with the video business was that its computer
business had been largely ignored. Although Sony had some success in the computer
game markets, its first entrants in the computer market were 8-bit machines (the SMC-70
and SMC-777, introduced in 1982 and 1984).

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

Doi established three basic guidelines for the development (1) the computer should be
32-bit (2) it should be multipurpose and (3) the project should be completed as soon as
possible.

The initial development effort, dubbed the IKKI project, got off to a fast start. The
hardware prototype took three months to complete, and the operating system took another
three months to install.

The NEWStm (network station) workstation computer was introduced at the Tokyo
Data Show in October 1986. It was a huge success, with over 1000 inquiries at the show.
The investment in the new venture was fully recovered within a few months. Sony
Workstation sales had doubled every year since then.
(June 1987), Tall merged its computer-related divisions, including workstations, CD-
ROM development, and Home Interactive, into a single internal venture known as the
super micro group.

Sony’s workstation product line was segmented into three categories and marketed
under NewsTM Trademark in Exhibit 1 the low-end series 700 developed from the original
IKKI workstation. The mid-range series 1500 and 1700 where based on a single 68030
and did have hard disk capabilities. The high-end series 1800 and 1900 where based on
68030 but had special dual processor architecture in second 68030 handled all
input/output (I/O). Although Workstation Division was still small, by July 1989 was the
company’s most profitable division.

Exhibit 2: The workstation product strategy was not based on price or performance
leadership. Exhibit 3 showed a system that was in the middle and upper range of both
categories. While Sony was investigating RISC-based workstations, it was not yet
prepared to organize product development that would result in a remarkable product.
Workstation Division focused on developing competitive workstations by leveraging
Sony's manufacturing capabilities as well as other technologies such as optical disk and
video to exploit niches. It also focused on the Japanese market, where a US workstation
firm operates.

Although Sony's strategy worked in the early stages of its entry into the workstation
market, it needed to expand its traditional role to become more of a leader in order to
grow further. On the other hand, Sony management believed that as the industry matured,
manufacturing expertise and cost would become more important, and that Sony's size and
experience in electronics manufacturing would provide a competitive advantage.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

In 1989 development process had three stages: (1) Basic Architecture Specification,
(2) Production Design, (3) First lot Production. During it phase each

The group(s) had primary responsibility for development efforts, though their
responsibilities tended to overlap for an extended period of time, and people were
transferred across groups as the project progressed.

Before a specific product was targeted, the basic architecture stage occurred. The
R&D department would then investigate the technologies it had selected by creating a
prototype workstation based on the new technology. The R&D team was constantly
working on the fundamental technologies that would be used in the top-of-the-line next-
generation system.

Actual product design work started during the second stage of the development
process with the creation of the New Product Plan (NPP). The Planning, Research &
Development, and Design Engineering Departments worked together on it.

The manufacturing division, Sony Digital Product Inc., was primarily in charge of the
third and final stage of new product development, First Lot Production. This department
produced CD players, optical disks, and other digital products for Sony Corporation as a
wholly owned subsidiary of the Sony Group.

After the NPP's approval, a project manager was appointed at Sony. This assignment
did not, at least temporarily, grant the project manager special status because of seniority;
it was based on merit and availability. On a subsequent project, an engineer who managed
the first one might be a regular contributor. When an NPP was written for the area in
which the project manager had been working, the project was frequently sent to design
engineering for development and the project manager was a member of the R&D
department who was transferred to a design engineering department. This process was
adopted to speed up and improve the knowledge transfer from R&D to design
engineering.

In actuality, the project manager more closely resembled a senior engineer than a
manager. An engineer's time was typically divided 30% among smaller projects and 70%
went toward the larger project. Generally speaking, the major project was given priority
over the smaller ones, though there were a few instances where this wasn't the case.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

(August 1987-December 1988) The 1550, a general-purpose workstation in the Sony

line, was one of the division's most recent major development projects. Because the
project began directly with an NPP written in August 1987 by senior hardware engineer
Takashi Yoshida, the first stage, specification of basic architecture and concepts, is
typically done by the R&D department for core products. Yoshida was the logical choice
to manage the second stage of development effort on the 1550 because he was written the
NPP.

Yoshida and his project team had created a set of schematics for the main board in
October 1987. The board was then sent to Oki, an outside vendor who not only designed
but also built it.

(early December) The ten phase I prototypes had been completed, and Yoshida's
small team of engineers had begun debugging procedures.

The goal of Phase I was to ensure that the design logic worked properly. If the PCB
design flaws were too severe, another phase 1 prototype cycle would be carried out. The
size and shape of the PCBs were adjusted in Phase II to meet the form factor requirement
that was just established at the end of Phase I. Phase II also provided an opportunity for
the manufacturing division to begin learning about the new product and preparing its
manufacturing processes. Because the 1550 was the first computer in the 1500 series, 100
boards were ordered during the phase II prototype cycle so that third-party software
vendors could be provided with beta-test systems to use in developing their applications.
Sony's digital products was then able to begin production of the batch of prototype boards
on schedule.

When the hardware engineers returned from the Sony digital products plant, they
documented the phase II design changes and sent them to Oki, which was to do a final
layout for the boards in preparation for first lot production. Oki was able to build ten of
these Prototype III boards in three weeks because the changes were so minor.

The first lot was produced in two stages, with the first batch, pre-production, sending
30 systems through the production line. After the 30 pre-production systems were
completed, they were thoroughly tested and debugged. Any remaining systematic errors
were discovered and corrected at this time, and the balance of the first lot production units
were produced.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

EXHIBIT 1. Product Line

The 700 series evolved from the original IKKI workstation, which was based on the
68020 chip and lacked a hard disk.
Sony's new workstation family not only provides compact high performance, but also
leads the way in network computing. These workstations' Open Distributed Processing
capability contributes to the creation of a heterogeneous, easily expandable network of
shared resources. The Dual Processor Architecture demonstrates its strength in I/O-
intensive applications by maintaining a constant CPU processing speed regardless of I/O
loads or application programs. Furthermore, the news family includes a diverse range of
products designed to meet the diverse needs of software engineers and technical
professionals.

EXHIBIT 2. 1500 Series and Optional Peripherals

The ideal low-cost option for any network. The workstation product strategy had not been
based on price or performance leadership. The news/1500 series is an excellent way to reduce
network costs while maintaining network efficiency. The 1500 series packs 3.9 MIPS
processing power in a unit smaller than a personal computer, thanks to the 25mhz mc68030
CPU and the 25mhz mc68882 floating-point coprocessor. It is priced similarly to diskless
machines, but it has its own local disk, allowing it to start up and operate more quickly.

EXHIBIT 3. Sony and Sun Microsystems Product Introductions

It was a system where in the middle and upper range in both categories.

First Product to use New Microprocessor

Sun microsystems Sony

Microprocessor Product Date Product Date
6800 Sun-2 11/83 ---- ---
6810 Sun-2/160 11/84 --- ---
68020 Sun-3 9/85 800 Series 1/87
68030 Sun-3/60 7/87 1800 Series 9/88
RISC Sun-4 7/87 ? ?

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

EXHIBIT 4. Comparison of the 1500 with competitor’s workstations

Sony Sun Hp/Apollo

Model 1520 3/80 DN 2500
CPU 68030/25 MHz 68030/20 MHz 68030/20 MHz
Coprocessor 68881 68882 68882
MIPS 3.9 3.0 4.0
Amount of main memory 4-16mb 4-16mb 4-16mb
Hard disk 40 mb 104mb 100mb
Floppy Drive 3.5” 1.44mb 3.5” 1.44mb 5.25” 1.2mb
Standard Ethernet, SCSI, Ethernet, SCSI, RS432 Ethernet, Tokenring,
Interfaces RS232C, RS232C
Centronics
Operating System NEWS-OS (UNIX SUN OS 4.1 (UNIX Domain/OS (Aegis UNIX
4.3BSD + X 4.3BSD + System V, System V, 4. 3BSD NFS,
window system NeWS, SnView, NFs) X Windows DM)
Ver. 11 + MFS 3.2)
Display 15” Monochrome 16” Monochrome 15” Monochrome
(816x1024) (1280x1024) (1024x800)
Price $7,860 $8,720 $5,420
Date of Introduction December 1988 January 1988 Announced (to be
introduced in Dec. 89)

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

EXHIBIT 5. Workstation Division Organization Chart

Sony Display Dr. Toshi Doi Sony Digital

Products Senior General Manager Products, Inc.
(A Division of TV Super Micro Group (Manufacturing)
Group)

Hiroyoshi Yasuo Hanada

Yuminhiko
Yamamoto Dr. Toshi Doi General Manager
Masao Yoshida Suzuki
General Manager General Manager Domestic
General Manager General Manager
News Support Workstation Workstation
Quality Assurance International Sales
Center Division Sales Division

Masao Hori
Assistant General
Manager
Workstation
Division

Tanaka Masao Hori Isao Yamazaki

Hata
Manager Manager Manager
Manager
Research and Product Design I Product Design II
Graphics Options
Development (Software) (Hardware)

Electrical Mechanical
Design Design

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

EXHIBIT 6. Flow Chart of prototyping in the Development Process

In 1989 development process had three stages: (1) Basic Architecture Specification,
(2) Production Design, (3) First lot Production. During it phase each group(s) had primary
responsibility for development efforts, although their responsibility tended to overlap to
considerable amount of time and people were transferred across groups as project move
through the process.

Basic
Architecture
Stage 1: Basic Architecture
Development
Primary groups: R & D

New Product Plan

(NPP)

Phase I
Logic Design

- Test
- Logic
Problems - QA Stage 2: Product Design
Pass
Primary Groups: Product
Phase II
Design I
Form Factor Design and Product

- Test
- Logic
Problems - QA

Pass

Documentation
(Service, Manufacturing)

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
SITUATION ANALYSIS

Pre-Production
(30 Sets)

QA Stage 3: First Lot Production

Problems

Primary Groups: Sony Digital Products

Pass
Inc
Mass Production
(170 Sets)

QA
Problems

Pass

Product Introduction

Exhibit 1: Product Line, Exhibit 2: 1550 Series and Optional Peripherals (the ideal low-cost
choice for any network), Exhibit 3: Sony and Sun Microsystems Product Introductions (First
Product to Use Microprocessor), Exhibit 4: Comparison of the 1500 with Competitors
Workstations, Exhibit 5: Workstation Division Organization Chart, Exhibit 6: Flow Chart of
Prototyping in the Development Process, Exhibit 7: Transfer Products from R&D.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
PROBLEM ANALYSIS

 The final output of the first task.

- Because wires on the same layer of a PCB could not cross one another,
specifying how all the chips were to be connected did not complete the
design.

 A layout was developed so a first prototype could be built.

- Due to the workstation division's small size, it lacked the resources to
develop the layout or fabricate the prototype PCB in-house.

 Same vendor would do both the layout and fabrication.

- Once the board layout was finished, it was sent to a vendor.

 The hardware design engineers were asked to do far too much.

 Even experienced engineers struggled with the requirements.

 The designs were not optimized for manufacturability under the current
procedure.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
PROBLEM ANALYSIS

This table showing you the SWOT Analysis, S (strengths), W (weaknesses), O

(opportunities), T (threats) of the company.

S
STRENGTHS
W
WEAKNESSES
O
OPPORTUNITIES
T
THREATS

 Computer game  Marketing Strategy  hire some staff that  Lack of

markets  Man-power knowledgeable Communications to
 Workstation shortage have skills already the staff/employee
Computer  Competitors  staff were assigned  They employed
 Skills and based on their antiquated
Abilities abilities strategies.
 Popularity of the  make it simple to  Competitors have a
Company make the changes more extensive
 Experts engineers  conduct additional marketing strategy
 Application research on the
Software vendors project on which
 CD players, you are working

Optical Disk and

other digital
products


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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
DECISION ANALYSIS

 They claimed that the problem was quite complex, but when there was no way to
connect one point to another without crossing a wire, a new layer had to be added,
despite the fact that doing so significantly increased the board's production cost.

 According to them, the first time this process was completed, it took (4) four to (5)
five weeks. As a result, when changes were made to a previous design, much of the
layout remained unchanged, and the time required to develop the remainder was
reduced to as little as (2) two to (3) three weeks.

 According to Masao Hori, assistant general manager, the current problem isn't so bad
because it's happening so quickly. It is extremely difficult to divide into neat little
steps, which is why technology transfer takes time. As a result, they included the
MES (manufacturing engineering section).

 Although the development process at the workstation division was efficient, changes
were required, according to Yamazaki's proposal. Smaller teams were more efficient,
but each engineer had to be capable of handling the full range of design tasks, from
high-level architecture to minor details.

 According to them, a different subcontractor was occasionally used, and fabrication

took an additional two to three weeks, for a total time of six to eight weeks, during
which the engineers were able to catch up on their small projects.

 According to the article, an engineer's knowledge and skills must be both broad and
deep. However, finding new engineers with this combination of skills would be nearly
impossible, and new engineers would have to be trained, which could take years. So,
to solve this problem, hire an engineer who possesses the required skills and
knowledge, so that they can develop those skills and knowledge while working.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
POTENTIAL PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Although Doi understood and agreed with many of Yamazaki's points, he was
concerned about the proposal's impact on Sony's development process. He didn't want the
Workstation Division to become a big company like the rest of Sony, but he knew that
growth demanded some changes. If he simply added engineers to the current structure,
those engineers would probably start to specialize anyway.

Other Potential Problem:

 MES (manufacturing engineering section) because the article stated that this MES
was only a minor adjustment to existing design and manufacturing knowledge.

 Team communication is essential. A lack of communication can also lead to

responsibilities overlapping. If the teams do not collaborate and establish clear
boundaries, they may both waste time and money performing the same basic tasks.
And, regardless of the size of your team or budget, wasting resources is never a good
thing.

 Manpower availability. The team was small.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
FINDINGS

The study's findings were summarized in accordance with the Problem Analysis as
stated on the problem analysis page.

The result of the first task. Because wires on the same layer of a PCB could not cross
each other, specifying the logic of how all the chips should be connected did not complete
the design. However, when there was no way to connect one point to another without
crossing a wire, a new layer had to be added, despite the fact that doing so significantly
increased the board's production cost.

A layout was created in order to build the first prototype. Because of the workstation
division's small size, it lacked the resources to develop the layout or fabricate the
prototype PCB in-house, but when changes were made to a previous design, much of the
layout remained unchanged, reducing the time required to develop the remainder.

The layout and fabrication would be handled by the same vendor. The completed
board layout was delivered to a vendor. This problem has both advantages and
disadvantages for the company. First, the engineers were able to catch up on their small
projects during the waiting period. The disadvantage is that the vendor may have
difficulty in his/her job because this company assigned her/him to two different jobs.

The hardware design engineers were asked to do far too much. So, hire an engineer with
one of the requirements skills and knowledge so that they can develop those skills and
knowledge while working. Because hiring new engineers with insufficient skills and
knowledge may result in a loss or damage to the company.

The designs were not optimized for manufacturability under the current procedure.
With the addition of the MES, they would no longer be required to design the architecture
of the workstations or even perform major design tasks.

These issues will assist the company in determining what they are lacking and
immediately addressing it, and if you take that into consideration and adjust the way you
serve your employees and customers based on their input, you demonstrate that you truly
care about them.

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 SONY CORPORATION: Workstation Division
RECOMMENDATIONS

In this case study, you will learn about the benefits and drawbacks of owning a business
and how it operates. So, based on my understanding of this case study, I will suggest the
following:

 People-to-people communication

A lack of communication can also lead to responsibilities overlapping. If your

teams do not collaborate, your company may suffer loss or damage.

 Implement modern marketing strategy

Nowadays, if you post something interesting online, many people will be

interested in it. Using social media platforms is essentially free and is a great way to
spread the word about you and your product. However, make sure you select the
social media platforms that are most appropriate for your organization. This is just
one example of a modern marketing strategy; you can look into others if you want.

 You should be knowledgeable of your competitors.

We all know that Sony Corporation is a large corporation, but we also know
that all large corporations do not remain at the top, so you should be aware of
your competitors. And demonstrate to them how your company is unique and
superior.

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