Nova Ltd’s New Boise Office
“When I first joined Nova, I asked, ‘Where do we meet?’ They responded, ‘At our office, Café Capri, and they have great coffee!”
Haokun Hu
When Haokun Hu joined Nova Measuring Instrument, Inc. as the Account Operations Manager in March of 2021, he was on a mission to create a home base for the local team. For years, the Boise team worked from home, on the customer site, or the coffee shop supporting its clients. This was not a long-term solution, and employees needed a private and collaborative space. Fast forward, and Nova has made a home for itself right next to the company it has committed to serving.
Solutions for Semiconductor Manufacturers
So, what does Nova do, and why is its office location so important? For starters, Nova was founded in 1993. It is the leading supplier for dimensional and material metrology solutions for semiconductor chip manufacturers. Their extensive portfolio of products and services act as customer’s eyes and ears in measuring the quality of the products they are manufacturing and subsequently helping them improve the yield. Therefore, having an office minutes away from a key strategic customer is essential to delivering on Nova’s promise of excellent service.
Creating A Unified Design
But how do you create a unified look and feel for offices spread around the globe? You start with a unifying design principle, home. Haokun Hu and the US headquarters Facilities Manager Manny Balcita identified a building near the customer surrounded by other suppliers to fulfill this task. Next, they collaborated with both the US and Israel head office teams with the goal of designing the office to feel like their headquarters in Israel and the US (California). “Whether you are walking into a site that has seven or three employees, it shouldn’t look different than the site with seven hundred.”, says Manny Balcita. To achieve this continuity, they enlisted local vendors like OEC to help them design the informal, relaxed, and collaborative environment that their employees would call home.
Left to Right
David Goehring: Boise Service Engineer, Dewaine Hale: Boise Service Manager, Igor Nosikovsky: Israel Business Manager, Gaby Waisman: Israel Chief Business Officer, Melvin Ng: Singapore Global Account Manager, Carolina Gomez: Boise Application Engineer, Laura LaFleur: Fremont, CA HR Partner, Haokun Hu: Boise Account Operation Manager
Working With OEC
Working with OEC’s design and sales team, Haokun and Manny began to fill in their empty shell of an office. “We went in with a basic idea of how many chairs and workstations we wanted and how they would best stimulate collaboration. Then we decided on the best layout. Jill (OEC workplace consultant) was very understanding and accommodating from the beginning. We made some design changes midway, and she helped us create the same feeling as our headquarters offices within our budget. During this selection process, the most important thing to me was good communication and a quick response which is exactly what Jill and the OEC team gave us.” – Haokun Hu
Claiming Their New Home
The now completed office boasts two conference rooms, workstations made for collaboration, a kitchen table that doubles as an informal meeting place, and lounge chairs for casual conversations. Tying it all back to the look and feel of the headquarters are various cool colors and a unique metal panel. Now, the local application and service team have a place to meet together and bounce around ideas, create new opportunities, and improve the service to their customers.
“Our teams are constantly working for our customers and trying to solve problems. So, seeing them at our ribbon-cutting ceremony, claiming their new home, choosing where they would sit, and chit-chatting in that area gave me a warm feeling. I know it’s been a long time coming. I could already see that being in the space was lifting their morale and creating a sense of family and a sense of team.”-Manny Balcita.
Manny Balcita
Keeping A Promise
This office is a dream come true for the Boise team. When Haokun joined Nova, the team asked him when they were going to have their new office. He told them they would have it by the end of the year. That promise was very important to him and the company’s mindset toward its customers.
“When we make a promise, we will make it happen. This office is a symbol of Nova making the commitment to our long-term partnership with our customers.”
Haokun Hu
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