With its current 10,500 developers, ASML has a formidable engineering squad. In its first ten years, however, the company had to make do with one-seventieth of that number. The consequence: it had to focus on only one machine.
ASML is the most effective and, at the same time, the least efficient organization. It’s a character sketch that’s doing well in the high-tech corridors these days. ASML employees themselves and people around them are saying it with a mix of sarcasm and admiration. Sarcasm about the visible waste, admiration for the seemingly inexhaustible power of the R&D machine. It’s “a luxury that only ASML can afford,” suppliers usually add jealously.
Everyone understands that the development of highly complex systems requires a lot of people. Hundreds of specialists and thousands of designers. In addition, you need a lot of system thinkers, experienced people who can oversee the stuff, with a good eye for what customers really need.
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