March 18, 2002 - National Semiconductor's (NYSE:NSM) WEBENCH® online design tool has been awarded top honors by readers of Electronic Design News (EDN) in the magazine's annual "Innovation of the Year" competition.
WEBENCH 3.0 (HTTP://WEBENCH.NATIONAL.COM) is a free interactive online workbench that accelerates designs through selection, electrical simulation, virtual physical layout, and thermal simulation for power supply, wireless and microcontroller design. WEBENCH also integrates supply chain partners to deliver custom prototype kits overnight or fully assembled and tested custom prototypes in five days. For tight deadlines, an engineer needs only one to two hours using WEBENCH to specify a design, analyze and customize it until it is optimal, and order chips, boards, software, or completed custom prototype boards for delivery to the US overnight. Worldwide delivery of prototype kits is available in 48 hours; complete boards are available in three to five days.
"WEBENCH is a revolutionary new online tool that saves customers time and accelerates the time-to-market for new electronic products," said Phil Gibson, Vice President of Web Business and Sales Automation at National Semiconductor. "We're honored to receive this award."
Last year, National customers used National's WEBENCH to create 41,000 power supply designs, and saved an average of 43 man-hours per design. The estimated total cost savings to National customers was over $82 million. WEBENCH is currently generating $1.5 to 2 million dollars worth of design wins per month for National.
National's website, www.national.com is recognized throughout the semiconductor industry as a trendsetter and home to innovation. Half of the world's design engineers-more than 500,000 unique visitors-use the site at least once a month. The site features seven sophisticated search engines and offers information in 10 languages. More than 20,000 data sheets are downloaded daily and samples are available world wide in 24 hours.
Electronic Design New Magazine's "Innovation of the Year" award, now in its 12th year, recognizes innovative products and individuals in 16 different categories throughout the electronics industry. EDN's editorial panel chooses the finalists, and the winners were determined by votes cast via online ballot. National's WEBENCH received the award in the category of Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tool category.
About National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor is the premier analog company driving the information age. Combining real-world analog and state-of-the-art digital technology, the company is focused on the fast growing markets for wireless handsets; information appliances; information infrastructure; and display, imaging and human interface technologies. With headquarters in Santa Clara, California, National reported sales of $2.1 billion for fiscal year 2001 and employs about 9,800 people worldwide. Additional company and product information is available on the World Wide Web at www.national.com.
