Streamlining Production and Improving Compliance: Realtek's Journey with InstallShield

Realtek Semiconductor Corp

Realtek Semiconductor Corporation is a company that prides itself on a tradition of excellence in all aspects of its business. One of these business aspects is the production line, where software installation is performed for a broad range of products. The company has multiple product lines and tends to create/update installers for the drivers and applications more than 10 times a day across the company. Realtek is committed to maintaining efficiencies across its product lines and ensuring compliance when performing onsite work with customers. The company also aims to utilize its team’s engineering staff effectively.

Realtek Semiconductor Corporation, a company that prides itself on excellence in all aspects of its business, was facing challenges in maintaining efficiencies across its product lines that required frequent installer updates. The company was using node-locked instances of InstallShield for software installation on its production line. However, this approach was limiting their in-house capabilities and their ability to service customers efficiently offsite. The node-locked InstallShield licenses were installed on individual computers, each license purchased at a different time and having a different version. This led to schedule impacts due to the need to sort and manage through multiple versions of installation licenses. The staff was required to perform manual verification steps during installation to ensure the production database files were synchronized and that the versions of InstallShield were aligned. Additionally, Realtek's multiple product lines necessitated the creation/update of installers for the drivers and applications more than 10 times a day across the company, leading to inefficiencies and negatively impacting Realtek’s cycle time for creation of installers and product releases.

Realtek adopted InstallShield's concurrent licensing model to streamline production, ensure compliance, and improve collaboration. This model replaced the node-locked licenses, enhancing efficiencies. The concurrent license model made it easy for the purchasing and legal departments to manage the license. Instead of managing a disparate set of node-locked licenses and versions, the purchasing department only needed to manage a single serial number, a single maintenance plan, and a single renewal date. This also reduced the worry and efforts associated with using licenses at customer sites. The production staff was able to remove several manual process steps, enabling a more speedy and agile approach for new product releases and relevant updates. The universal installer interface could be used more consistently across products with this licensing model, simplifying the installation process and reducing the number of instances where Realtek usually coaches end users.

• The adoption of InstallShield's concurrent licensing model has brought significant operational benefits to Realtek. The purchasing and legal departments found it easier to manage the license, reducing worries and efforts associated with using licenses at customer sites. The production staff was able to remove several manual process steps, enabling a more agile approach for new product releases and updates. The installation process was simplified, reducing the number of instances where Realtek usually coaches end users. This freed up time to be spent in more strategic areas. From a business development perspective, the consistency brought by the InstallShield product and concurrent licensing model has been invaluable, allowing Realtek to increase product competitiveness during the proposal and bid phases for new business. The service team now knows they are using the same, consistent approach as if they were onsite at Realtek, increasing their confidence in using InstallShield features more often.

• Streamlined production process by eliminating manual verification steps
• Reduced the number of instances where Realtek usually coaches end users
• Enabled a more speedy and agile approach for new product releases and relevant updates