Article

Vertigo catches balance with Chilin

Vertigo Digital Displays is being folded into a new company, Chilin Solutions, by parent company Chi Lin Technology.

January 26, 2011 by Christopher Hall

Tainan, Taiwan-based Chi Lin Technology today announced the development of Chilin Solutions, which will integrate Chi Lin Technology's commercial LCD display group with Vertigo Digital Displays Inc. and Chi Lin's commercial e-paper solutions group to form one global business unit.

Vertigo Digital Displays — a provider of custom and ruggedized display systems for the transit, retail and digital out-of-home advertising industries that was acquired by Chilin Technology in 2009 — will become Chilin Solutions' digital out-of-home business unit within the new organization.

Scott Hix, formerly vice chairman of Vertigo Digital Displays and general manager of the larger Chilin Commercial Display business, will become president and CEO of the new Chilin Solutions, and Brad Gleeson, formerly president and CEO of Vertigo, will become executive vice president of the company and general manager of Chilin Solutions DOOH.

"Basically, this is a formalization of how we've been operating for about the last six months, but this new entity – Chilin Solutions – will now be the home for all three businesses," Gleeson wrote in a recent e-mail.

Gleeson said in an interview that the new arrangement and the announcement were more about solidifying a working relationship that has been somewhat informal since Chi Lin acquired the company, along with Gleeson and Hix, in October of 2009.

Vertigo has been operating as an independent entity and doing well, but it's been trying to claw its way back into a business that's dominated by larger media companies, Gleeson said.

"The projects that we've been going after are big multimillion dollar projects, and the concerns that the customers have are, 'Does your company have the financial wherewithal to be here in five years when these products are still being utilized?'" he said.

"So I think the idea is to a great extent to give our customers the peace of mind that Vertigo has the backing of a multibillion dollar company and that we're going to be here for the long haul."

That's a benefit, but the main reason for the move is to streamline the working relationship between three entities that can work more efficiently as one organization than they could if they continued to be run separately, Gleeson said.

"It's definitely an efficiency play and a customer-service play, but definitely one of the benefits to Vertigo is this financial credibility that comes with the backing of Chi Lin," he said.

In addition it gives Vertigo (now Chilin Solutions DOOH) direct access to 50 engineers, a global supply chain, low-cost manufacturing, and advanced backlight and engineered materials capabilities, Gleeson wrote in his e-mail.

According to Gleeson, the founders of Vertigo Digital Displays, Ralph Idems and Chris Bolton, will remain with the company as well. Idems will continue in his current role as managing director, Toronto Operations, and Bolton will stay on as design director for the company's DOOH products. Bolton currently is living in Toronto, but will be relocating back to the U.K. soon, Gleeson said, where he will work remotely. Bolton is originally from the U.K., he said. Toronto will be home to the Chilin Solutions DOOH business unit.

Chilin Solutions will be headquartered in Portland, Ore., with facilities located in Tainan, in Toronto and in Soest, Netherlands.

(The Taiwan-based parent company is usually spelled out Chi Lin in English, Gleeson said, but the newer, North America-based units will use "Chilin" in their names.)

The new arrangement is already bearing fruit in the company's current project to supply outdoor digital displays to the New York City subway system, Gleeson wrote in an e-mail. The 55-inch liquid-cooled, LED edge-lit, optically-bonded outdoor display the company is using in the project is a joint development between the teams in Toronto and Tainan, Taiwan, he wrote.

"And I think we've delivered a solution that could not have been done by either of the companies without the other," he wrote.

According to the release, Chi Lin Technology's commercial LCD display business will form the core of the new Chilin Solutions, which is focused on the design and manufacturing of a broad range of commercial LCD monitors and specialty displays.

A third business unit will focus on the design, development and sales of e-Paper display solutions for industrial and commercial customers. Leveraging Chi Lin Technology's existing e-Paper technology display modules, Chilin Solutions will create complete solutions for commercial applications including electronic shelf labels, digital fact tags, and numerous other applications, according to the announcement.

The integration of the parent company's display systems groups into this new Chilin Solutions business is a key element of Chi Lin's overarching strategy to provide a broader set of display solutions to its OEM/ODM customers while improving customer service and reducing costs, the company said.

"The integration of our three display products businesses into this new solutions-oriented company will benefit our customers in numerous ways," Chilin Technology Chairman Richard Soong said in the announcement. "Our goal is to offer the broadest product range, at the most competitive prices, while being extremely easy to do business with."