About Bill
Bill leads our Semiconductors practice in the Asia-Pacific region and is a leader in our Advanced Electronics, High Tech, and Private Equity Practices. He founded McKinsey’s Design Lab in Taipei, which focuses on generating detailed value- and cost-driven insights into clean technology and consumer electronics.
With deep expertise in semiconductors, electronic components, contract manufacturing, and clean technology, Bill most often advises clients on topics related to operations, performance transformation, and strategy. Examples of his recent work include:
- helping a global wind-turbine manufacturer assess the competitiveness of its product portfolio relative to its Chinese competitors and using detailed component analysis to help the client identify critical differences in materials and manufacturing processes that clearly explained the value gap
- supporting a photovoltaic-system provider in transforming its procurement function and using design-to-value and “clean sheet” techniques to help the client minimize cost and maximize energy output for commercial and utility scale installations
- assisting a leading semiconductor manufacturer with a lean performance transformation that encompassed wafer-fabrication facilities, final manufacturing facilities, maintenance services, product design, and capital-equipment procurement functions
- evaluating and planning the capture of cost synergies resulting from a joint venture between a TFT-LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) manufacturer and a solar company
- benchmarking the operational performance of more than 60 wafer fabs and 25 assembly-and-test facilities
- helping an IT outsourcer that provides PC help-desk services improve end-to-end productivity by more than 30 percent through the application of lean-manufacturing principles across contact centers, field services, and the hand-offs between the two functions
Prior to joining McKinsey in 2001, Bill designed mixed-signal integrated circuits for IBM. From 1992 to 1998, he served as a special-warfare officer in the US Navy, leading several elite, 16-member special-forces units of SEAL Team 5. As a SEAL platoon commander, he served as a military adviser to units in Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea.
Published work
“Creating value through M&A and divestiture,” McKinsey on Semiconductors, Autumn 2012 (PDF–532 KB)
“Will analog be as good tomorrow as it was yesterday?” McKinsey on Semiconductors, Autumn 2011
“The evolution of business models in a disrupted value chain,” McKinsey on Semiconductors, Autumn 2011
Past experience
| IBM |
Mixed-signal integrated-circuit design engineer |
| US Navy |
SEAL Team 5, platoon commander |
| US Navy |
Special-warfare officer |
Education
| Fuqua School of Business at Duke University |
MBA |
| North Carolina State University |
MS in electrical engineering |
| US Naval Academy |
BS in systems engineering |