Improving operating and product margins is still important to our clients; however, with global industry growth settling into the 8% range through 2025, our clients are exploring opportunities to improve top-line revenue growth. Establishing or expanding operations closer to new customer bases in Asia, EMEA, and Latin America has generated substantial gains. At the same time, innovation and product development are gearing up to offer products in higher growth product categories such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), 3D printing, health and fitness devices, smart appliances, and ultra HD television. Demand for mobile connected devices is still strong but revenue growth is beginning to slow. We have also seen considerable success in revenue growth by implementing changes to our clients’ pricing management practices.

For any of our clients’ top priorities, Accel brings a unique perspective and focus on bottom-line results. We have first-hand experience working across the entire electronics value chain — from semiconductor to box-build and finally to software and services. We have worked with our clients’ suppliers and customers. Second, we only hire and staff engagements with experts that have worked in the electronics industry and who know the technology and operational levers.

A traditionally cyclical industry, global semiconductor revenues reached $419B+ in 2019 (down 12% from 2018).  Looking to recover from the industry downturn, semiconductor firms are navigating through a challenging environment currently driven by the “5 Cs”:

• Complexity: Shrinking process densities pushing the boundaries of Moore’s Law and broader utilization of advanced technology (e.g., V-NAND/3D XPoint)
• Costs: Increasing costs to design, develop, and manufacture products coupled with downward pricing pressure from customers
• Connectivity: Advancing wireless technologies, declining sensor prices, and enhanced software abilities enabling the rise of the Internet of Things and a truly connected, data-rich world
• Capabilities: Moving higher up in the software stack (e.g., Applications and APIs), integrating software development in traditionally hardware-driven environments, and trending from x86 to ARM architectures
• Consolidation: Acquiring companies to build out / strengthen portfolios and leverage synergies (e.g., Infineon and Cypress Semiconductor, Nvidia and Mellanox)

As such, semiconductor firms are looking to drive operating profits by effectively managing costs while enabling new revenue streams and optimizing portfolios. To achieve this, enabling sound R&D and operations fundamentals are paramount.

Accel has extensive knowledge across the semiconductor spectrum. From memory to microprocessors and digital logic to analog, we have hands-on experience driving top-line improvements and enabling bottom-line results. We staff engagements with experts who have worked in the semiconductor industry and who understand the technologies, unique business environment, operational levers, and end-to-end value chain.

Global Aerospace and Defense (A&D) is one of the industries most affected by national policy changes and disruptive global events, particularly in the commercial aerospace sector; however, with defense expenditures growing in the 4% range to reach an estimated $1.9 trillion in 2020, opportunity remains to drive top-line growth. Our clients are increasing their investments in innovations that address both government and commercial requirements. Technological developments in Electric Propulsion Aircraft, Urban Air Mobility (i.e., drones), and Automated Flight decks have both government and commercial applications, thereby spreading investment risks and leveraging economies of scale. We have seen significant success in new product development and advanced manufacturing by implementing our ‘Shift Left’ model to improve early and deep cross-functional collaboration. This proven model can be applied across multi-national partnerships to drive development down costs and reduce time-to-market on highly complex programs.

To help our clients achieve their most critical priorities, Accel brings a differentiated approach to solving systemic issues across an enterprise. We measure global processes for efficiencies and effectiveness against industry benchmarks to produce strategic execution plans that deliver bottom-line results. Our staff has an extensive understanding of the A&D landscape with prior operating positions at Boeing, NASA, GE Aviation, and Rolls-Royce Aerospace on military (U.S. classified) and commercial programs.