No_1_May_and_June__1951 — Page 55

PHILIPS OF EINDHOVEN

The Head Offices on the Emmasingel

Many who have visited the Philips' Works have wondered how it is that au incandescent lamp factory has come to turn out such a large variety of other articles that apparently have nothing at all to do with the incandes- rent lamp or its production. The world has grown accustomed to associ- ute the name of Philips' Works in Eindhoven only with incandescent lamps and radio sets, failing to see any connection between these products and a number of other commodities that Philips are producing, such as, to mention 21 few examples, bieyele dynamos, welding electrodes, plastic domestic articles, electric dry-shavers, etc., etc. A brief review of the history of the Philips' Works will answer this question.

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The founder of this firm, Mr. G. L. F. l'hilips, when he first established small incandescent lamp factory at Eindhoven in 1891, could not have had the least idea that the big concern that was to grow from such a modest begin- wing would some day, in spite of con- siderable war devastation, produce sn many different articles.

In those early years before the be ginuing of the 20th century this small lamp factory had very many difficul- ties to overcome, but notwithstanding this, production rose from 109,000 lamps in 1895 to 4,700,000 in 1903 when the firm of Philips had secured a sound footing on the world market as a pro- ducer of incandescent lamps.

With the advent of the metal fila- ment lamp the firm was obliged in 1907 to modify the whole of its works for the production of this new type of lamp. The all factory installations, which had been planned exclusively for carbon filament lamps, became

E

And such

for the greater part useless. drastic alterations in the processes of manufacture have had to be made re- peatedly, as for instance in 1912 when the spraying of the tungsten filaments was replaced by the drawing of wires, and again 1914 when the lamp with coiled filament and gas filling made its appearance.

manufacturing technique were closely reinteil ไป the incandescent lamp, namely radio valves, X-ray tubes and rectifying valves,

At the close of the first world war the manufacture of radio valves was taken up ou a very smail scate, but in the course of the next few years after many ups and downs there was a great development in radio broadcasting and in rauio valves. It was then that the economical Miniwatt" valves, the triodes, tetrodes and pentodes. were designed.

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Thus it was not until 1922, thanks to the popularity of radio broadcast- ing, that there was any great activity in the Works in the field of electrical apparatus required as component parts for radio receivers, and it was 1927 before Philips started making com- plete radio sets. It is interesting to note that this departure was made at the instigation of Philips Laboratory, where the opinion was formed that with their radio valves and other radio components Philips could only hold the lead if their research work could be based upon their own experience in the practical use of these components in receiving sets of their own manufacture.

The manufacturing branch that was then formed by the development of radio transmitting and receiving equip ment constituted as it were the founda- tion for the production of other articles which arose therefrom either immedi- ately or gradually. Radio valves came to be adapted for sound amplification, sound film installations, repeater sta tions for telephony and in many other fields of technical communications, such as carrier-wave telephony, by

It will be noted that so far there has only been mention of the produc tion of the production of incandescent lamps. When the firm was first established the object of the under- taking was described as "the manu- facture of incandescent lamps and other electrotechnical articles" but a full 27 years passed before these "other elec- trotechnical articles' came to be in- cluded in the programme of manufac ture, and even then for the next 5 years

be transmitted simultaneously the only other products made those which as regarda material and one pair of conductors.

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were

means of which 48 conversations can

over

Aerial photograph of the Strijp quarter of Philips' Works

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