Defining our ethos and ongoing mission

Up until a few years ago, we never really had articulated a defined purpose for our business. We had core objectives, KPIs and strategic frameworks which drive our company forward, but really delving into why  we exist – that’s another question entirely.

As a business, we sometimes get caught up in the day-to-day routine. We have to support our customers, we have to liaise with our suppliers, and we have to take care of our internal people. But building a company that is important and lives out its values is about so much more than just the routine. Purpose has to be the beating heart of everything.

4D SYSTEMS can’t just be a business; we need to have a purpose that drives us. Without that purpose, what is the point of doing what we do? I believe that purpose is how successful companies define themselves. So we are putting purpose at the core of our strategy.

Until now, we had never really taken the time to sit down and think about clarifying that ‘purpose’. That’s why we made the decision to define the purpose of not only 4D SYSTEMS, but for the people who are its collective driving force.

The statements below reflect a little bit of all of us. Not just our staff, but all our stakeholders as well – everyone who is involved in our ecosystem as part of this journey, for which we live and breathe.

I like to believe that when Atilla, our CEO, started 4D in his garage a long time ago, that these statements in 2022 really do reflect the initial DNA of the company we established back in 2005/06. Only now, they have been clarified and are out there for all the world to see.

We had some great minds come together to articulate our PVMV statements (Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values). A special thanks to Alexandra, Afroz, Dev, James, Markku and Yema for helping us put these statements together for 4D SYSTEMS. I believe we have really defined ourselves with clarity, and what we stand for.

A sincere thank you for being a part of our journey along the way, whether it was in 2005 or 2022.

Here are our PVMV statements:

1. Purpose

“We help engineer solutions that unleash human creativity.”

4D SYSTEMS believes in the importance of intuitive technology that helps solve human needs and problems. We passionately believe that technology cannot just be a tool that is autonomous of people, but rather exists to make our choices more efficient, smarter and sustainable.

Amongst the most intuitive ways we interact with technology is through display and touch. We therefore design technology to shape the way humanity interacts with the world, and which makes complex computing stylish, simple and smart – right at our fingertips.

2. Vision

“To be the primary interface provider for human interaction and smart technology.”

Industry 3.0 witnessed the transformation of production from mechanical to computerised automation. Today, Industry 4.0 is taking automation to the next dimension with advances in computerised decision-making, increasingly interconnected devices, and artificial intelligence.

We are acutely aware of this transformative shift in technology and recognise that a connection to human endeavours needs to be preserved. The fourth dimension of the future is to continue to utilise technology that makes human intelligence smarter.

4D SYSTEMS is making human intelligence smarter today and into the future.

3. Mission

“We empower forward-thinking engineers, designers, and organisations with the ability to achieve their objectives using our intelligent display solutions.”

4D SYSTEMS provides commercially-ready embedded graphics display solutions for virtually any application. With IOS:9001-certified manufacturing facilities, we focus on delivering the highest level of quality and customer experience.

We recognise the growing importance of human-intuitive and intelligent technologies. We, therefore, offer technology that meets the needs of a diverse range of users, applications, and industries. Our mission to produce creative display solutions of the highest standards is backed by 4D SYSTEMS’ commitment to greater environmental responsibility and a proactive responsiveness to human needs.

4. Values

• Courage in creativity: Every light-bulb moment comes from the audacity to dream of possibilities untold. Innovation is our passion, driven by a rigorous methodology in creating products and solutions for ourselves and others.
• Driven by solutions: Tailored, customised, and cost-effective solutions can only be developed when we dig deep and truly understand the objectives of our customers to solve problems and meet needs. We thrive on this passion to explore new options to meet a variety of needs as technology progresses.
• Human-first: For over 15 years, our team has forged its reputation as a global leader through relationships and understanding the people we work with. We treat our partners the way we would like to be treated, and we create products that are intuitively human. From all of us at 4D SYSTEMS, we believe this is the only way forward.
• Shared performance outcomes: We believe in closely aligning our goals, and sharing our achievements. These shared outcomes are between our staff, our engineers, and our customers. We are always determined to meet challenges together: from time-to-market, creative goals, quality benchmarks, to commercial objectives.
• Our principles do not bend: As an ISO:9001-certified entity, we have relentless focus on quality across everything we do. This is reflected not only in how we exceed our customers’ expectations, but also through living and breathing our commitment to environmental responsibility and humane capital practices.

As a global leader in the engineering of intelligent graphics solutions, 4D SYSTEMS has always been true believers in the power of collaboration and partnerships to drive forward innovation. Revolutionary hardware technology venture, Breadboard Mates, approached 4D SYSTEMS with an entrepreneurial idea that will open the door for the next generation of tools and design aids for speedy project development and experiment.

Breadboard Mates was established in October 2020, with the aim to bring breadboard-friendly products to the market, cutting down the time and components required to develop or experiment with electronics – a step forward in addressing the changing needs of the market.

Breadboard Mates Products

Breadboard Mates cutting edge products allow for seamless development with the help of revolutionary products like TIMI-96 and Mates Studio, the software development suite for all Breadboard Mates products offering four different programming methods with a library of hundreds of pre-designed pages and widgets.

BreadBoard Mates products use the powerful PIXXI range of embedded graphics processors from 4D Labs, the semiconductor arm of 4D Systems, to make innovative never-seen-before products.

The result is an unprecedented increase in development speed for stand-alone, host driven or PC testing applications.

See TIMI-96 in action

With 4D SYSTEMS backing, the partnership is predicted to be the catalyst for a new wave of unleashed creativity that puts the Breadboard Mates engineering team on the competitive vanguard of the ever-changing hardware and software technology space.

If you’d like to learn more about Breadboard Mates you can visit their website, otherwise get in touch with us at 4D SYSTEMS for further discussion.

To our valued stakeholders, as we close out the year, I wanted to take this opportunity to share my reflections on what 2021 meant for us as an organisation and provide a preview of what to expect from us in 2022.

A Uniquely Challenging Year

Like most if not all industries, we’ve had to endure a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not only as a manufacturer, but also as an organisation and team facing the same unique challenges. We underwent a few difficult months of lockdown in our part of Sydney, which meant we had to spread more of our team apart and work remotely. Remote working is nothing new for us; we’ve had remote team members since 2009 and so adopting to the new normal was a relatively easy transition for our team.

We’ve always been an agile team, and when disruption occurs, we are quick to react to new challenges that confront us. To be able to get product to customers, there is a lot of effort that goes on in the background that isn’t seen. Production planning, sourcing of hundreds of different components, managing lead times, global transporting and importing from all around the world, being mindful of the emissions that come with a lot of this logistics movement. Most significantly, being carbon-neutral with DHL, we successfully offset carbon emissions for all our import and export transportation. In this sense, we aim to tread as lightly as possible.

An Ambitious Goal

Every company committed to innovation has a Wishlist; we are no different! Earlier this year prior to the COVID-19 lock down, we had, and still have ambitions to introduce and implement a total line solution with a fully automated SMT line, that is IoT connected, with the addition of robots as part of our smart factory setup. This would triple our daily production output but requires a multi-million dollar investment and larger premises as the line itself is 25 metres long.

Here it is in all its glory the total line solution that we are looking to implement.

Yamaha YSP10 printer/Yamaha SPI/ 2 X YSM20R + Feeders + Tray Tower/Yamaha AOI/Yamaha YST15 storage tower + Nutek board handling for full automation along with Laser marker for barcoding product and a N2 Heller oven with 13 zones top and bottom + the Yamaha YFACT/YSUP programming and Factory management SW.

We are committed to making this happen, so that our customers experience an even superior standard of 4D product, with world class machinery and tech, driven by our determination for excellence.

Our Staff: The Driving Force of Our Company

In the coming weeks we will be releasing our refreshed logo, Purpose, Vision, Mission, and Values statements to the world. I wanted to have this articulated for many years and a great deal of collaborative effort went in to putting these together. I am delighted with the result. These statements are a genuine reflection of what we at 4D believe in, and aspire for.

What’s most satisfying is that these statements have been developed organically from the hearts of our team members across manufacturing, marketing, operations, sales, and engineering.

This inspiration comes from the realisation that the products we deliver, and everything our team does  – from the design, development, manufacture and marketing –  for it to be used on a medical ventilator that assists in saving someone’s life. That’s what really inspires us.

Ultimately, we serve many different industries, and whenever we see the successful and beneficial use of our products all over the world, we cannot always find the words to truly state the appreciation we have as a team to support these initiatives.

From what started as an idea in 2005, our organisation grew to be one of the global leaders in the embedded display space, with clients and distribution partners across many different countries. Feels like yesterday of October 2008,  I walked in the doors of the small garage operation of my brother and our company founder Atilla. We were a team of a few people, struggling to make ends meet, working 7 days a week, long into the early hours of the morning to build something he and I strongly believed in. Fast forward to the end of 2021, we are truly honoured and grateful for how far we have come. We’re still actively and directly involved after all these years, doing our best to deliver on the passion, and care, needed to support the true heroes at 4D SYSTEMS who are driving the business forward day in and day out– our team.

The Next Chapter

In 2022, we will be launching some very exciting projects that have had a lot of focus over the last 12 months.

• Enterprise sub-domain which will focus on smartSOLUTIONS we have been developing for the medical, building and lifestyle segments.
• Purpose, Vision, Mission and Values statements to be officially released to the world.
• Organisational ecosystem – Our leadership and business philosophy that is embedded in our organisation.
• Tree planting day at our headquarters’ office garden, and a commitment to planting 1000 trees a year in local regions.
• GEN5 – Our newest and most powerful graphics processor and product development expected to be release later in 2022.
• OLED as well as E-paper displays to play a more prominent role in our 2022 product line up.

We can’t wait to share these all with you.

Warm Regards,

Sinan Aknar

Managing Director

There’s no denying that the global pandemic has disrupted supply chains, impacted businesses and caused widespread fears about ongoing operations. But despite the unexpected challenges, 4D SYSTEMS has gone from strength to strength and we’re excited to share what’s been happening internally.

From shortages to surging demand

Major disruptions to global supply chains have caused shortages of everything from construction materials and pharmaceutical supplies to a variety of consumer goods.

Because of this, 4D SYSTEMS has seen businesses really amp up their purchases. To help meet demand and ensure our clients get the supplies they need for their critical projects, we’ve been working closely with our distributors and our Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to keep up with demand during this volatile period and keep up with a surge in demand.

Our unstoppable team

It’s safe to say that given the huge production requirements, we’ve experienced one of the biggest production periods over June and July. With an incredible amount of orders to fulfil, the 4D SYSTEMS team has gone above and beyond to help our clients get exactly what they need.

Ultimately, 4D SYSTEMS exists to help engineer solutions that unleash human creativity. We believe in the importance of intuitive technology that helps solve human needs and problems.

One of our core values is Courage in Creativity, through innovation in creating products and solutions for ourselves and our customers. This extends father than our engineering team, and creativity is a key ethos that permeates across our entire organisation.

Our manufacturing team in Sydney Australia have shown a relentless drive to think outside the box and solve problems for customers to meet huge production orders, and a range of testing customer scenarios in service of many industries from aerospace to medical equipment engineering.

This team reflects the engine room of 4D SYSTEMS and are behind the crafting, production, quality control, packaging and shipment of all the orders which our customers receive around the world. They make sure innovative ideas form into tangible products and applications that unleash imagination and solve human problems. We could not appreciate their efforts more, and during a particularly testing time, they have shown their metal again and again. We would not be here without their efforts along with those of the entire 4D team.

Supporting the medical sector at a key time

At 4D SYSTEMS, we see ourselves as much more than just an intelligent display leader. We pride ourselves on innovation, and are always looking at how we can integrate new efficiencies while meeting our ISO standards of quality.

Some of the work we’ve been most proud of during these tumultuous COVID times include contributing to smart medical solutions – from highly dependable medical devices to an invasive medical ventilator.

To show our appreciation for our teams dedication and efforts, we gave our production staff the day off as a small token of appreciation. They’ve shown courage in creativity, kept up with demand, designed new processes and solutions, exceeding quality benchmarks and ultimately gone above and beyond for our customers.

A big thank you to our entire 4D SYSTEMS team as well as our wonderful customers who’ve worked with us closely over the last 18 months during these testing times. We are still here and working hard to meet growing demand, so to learn more about our production possibilities and for all your intelligent display solutions you can contact us today.

Immerse yourself in the world of embedded systems with Rutronik

THE NEW NORMAL: this year Embedded World will be taking place virtually, but it will be equally as exciting as we showcase our insights and expertise alongside Rutronik. Join us at the virtual event, Rutronik TechTalk meets Embedded World 2021 and explore the latest technologies and trends.

4D SYSTEMS is pleased to be involved with Rutronik to share our insights as global leaders in the design and development of intelligent graphic solutions. Our Global Products & Business Development Manager, Markku Riihonen, will present on smart display solutions on the 3^rd of March from 11am-12pm.

Date: 3 March 2021
Time: 11am – 12pm (CET)

For three days, Rutronik will present products and solutions for the innovation-driven markets; Embedded, (I)IoT, Industry 4.0, Robotics, Metering, Logistics, Energy, Biotechnology & Medical, Automation and Artificial Intelligence. Workshops, lectures and Q&A sessions with a large number of well-known manufacturers will offer a comprehensive insight into the future of electronics.

Click here to register for this fantastic event in the brave new world we find ourselves in.

We hope to see you there!

Kind regards
The 4D SYSTEMS TEAM

4D Systems’ Focus on Exceptional Customer Service.

Business is moving faster than ever.

As customers get smarter and clearer about what they want and expect in the products and services they buy, companies are investing heavily in meeting their customer’s growing expectations.

“You need to be able to really understand the problems your customers are trying to solve and work backwards from there,” says Sinan Aknar, Managing Director of 4D Systems.

“As our community of enterprise manufacturers, design houses and hobbyists use our products for increasingly varied applications, our customer support team are able to pass learnings back to our product teams to continuously improve our products. Customer service is not one-way, it’s a feedback loop and an ongoing conversation between our customers and us.”

A focus on speed and convenience

People’s expectations have been shaped by the everyday interactions they have with companies like Google, Uber and Facebook where answers and cars arrive within seconds and at most minutes.

Customers do not simply compare their experience to your competitors anymore. They compare you to the best service they have ever received – from any company they have interacted with. Consumers want to work with the companies that are easiest to do business with as well as communicate with.

The traditional customer service channels of phone and email still have an important place for helping users resolve complex issues, but when it comes to meeting the demand for speed, answers need to be accessible without the need to pick up the phone. User guides, video tutorials and intuitive FAQs are the first place people begin to look for solutions. They also need to be easily accessible on mobile.

Mobile self-service

Self-service is becoming the preferred choice when it comes to customer support.

According to Gartner research, 81% of customers across all industries attempt to take care of matters themselves before reaching out to a customer support representative. In addition, more and more are researching and resolving issues from their phone.

Whether it’s searching “How To…” on Youtube or searching discussion boards for key phrases, strong customer service strategies are deeply mobile-driven.

“We have seen this shift in our own customer base. A hobbyist and an engineer at an enterprise manufacturer will get online to look up something. We know our documentation must be ready for them when they need it,” says Markku Riihonen, Global Products and Business Development Manager of 4D Systems.

Product datasheets and manuals need to be easily accessible on the product page for reviewing pre-purchase.

Supporting customers pre and post purchase

Companies must build an ecosystem around their customers to deliver what they need, both pre-purchase as well as post-purchase.

Improving the pre-purchase process assists customers in deciding whether the product is right for them and increases conversion. Strong post-purchase support ensures high satisfaction and a likelihood of an ongoing relationship.

Carl Darby, a model-maker who used 4D System’s user form & post-purchase technical support in a recent project says “this project showed me how easy 4D Systems products are to use”. Mr. Darby used the uOLED-96-G2 in his model-making project for its compact size and intuitive programming software.

Ledixis, an enterprise manufacturer of DMX controllers for lighting control relied on application notes and discussion forums on 4D System’s website for the majority of their questions and sought advanced technical assistance with the post-purchase team for questions they preferred not to share on a public discussion board. Ultimately, the service was tailored to their preferences.

Creating a strong customer service culture is important for developing long-term relationships with customers.

Richer customer experiences lead to better customer loyalty, repeat purchases and dependable revenue streams.

For over 15 years, 4D Systems has forged its place as a global leader for intelligent displays and graphics processors. While we are honoured to offer our range of products, it’s the effort we put into customer service that makes us most proud.

To experience the very best in customer service, talk to a team member today through the best channel for you.