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Helvoet provides co-development know how and competences to its customers, which reduces their development time and at the end their time to market. The total cost of the development phase is linked to the timelines and is in this way also optimized. With this early involvement the knowledge of the part and the processes grows to a level that enables us to support cost reduction programs and by that help our customer’s market position.

It is this service that started the single source position for Helvoet in many markets and product lines. Dual source strategies are mostly build up for 2 reasons.

  1. Cost driven targets
  2. Risk reduction programs

With an open development approach customers can clearly see which items drive the cost prices of their parts. Costs are driven by production processes and raw materials. With the right attitude and collaboration these costs can be addressed, removing the need to go to dual source due to pricing reasons.

Dual sourcing is often looking promising at the cost down potential explained in many purchasing trainings but the costs involved in establishing a second source, in external operations / quality management and the internal supply chain are often not considered in the first step.

The second reason is for dual sourcing, risk management, is more challenging to manage as the perception of risk varies with the people at the table. By involving the customer in the risk assessments Helvoet  ensures that all potential risks are identified. Helvoet then creates a risk mitigation plan per risk item which is presented to and agreed with the customer. In this way Helvoet enables customers to take single source decisions without unacceptable risks.
One item which is often forgotten when switching to dual source is the loss of knowledge and quality improvements in the production processes as all products grow during their product life by further development and quality aspects. By having one central production organ all improvements regarding costs and quality are directly secured for the entire supply chain. Process improvements at one of the suppliers are rarely shared to other sources, leaving a part of your supply chain at risk.
Having all of this in mind, single source supply by Helvoet can be more an advantage than a risk by optimizing your products, logistic and quality processes and even the total cost by securing product and production know how.

 

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