CO-ENGINEERING
NTS CLOSELY ALIGNS COMMUNICATION WITH THE PROFILE OF ITS INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER
‘SOME CULTURES FOCUS ON CONTENT, OTHERS MORE ON THE RELATIONSHIP’ As a first-line contract manufacturer, NTS focuses on developing, manufacturing and assembling (opto-)mechatronic systems and mechanical modules. Because these are complex products, communication is essential in all phases of a project, which includes international customers of different cultures and in different time zones. What role do the account manager, system architect and project manager play at NTS and what questions do they ask to provide the customer with a realistic picture of the design process?
solution that’s not only suitable for today’s assignment, but one that offers benefits for the future as well. Particularly so in the context of further development, standardisation, improvement or scaling up. Jakobs: ‘To make a correct assessment of this, we naturally also look at the customer’s company and to what extent his in-house processes are in order. They are often interesting but also lengthy processes in which a good account manager contributes to realistic expectations of the customer. This is an essential step to steer the project in the right direction and to arrive at an end result the customer can work with.’
FROM SYSTEM ARCHITECT TO PROJECT MANAGER When the account manager knows what exactly a customer wants and both parties know what to expect, the system architect proceeds to making the technical design. Sander Gielen, Manager Engineering D&E: ‘In development ‘Our advantage is that we have people across the globe who themselves are part of the culture, which of course simplifies communication’, projects, the system architect Ruben Jakobs notes. Photo: NTS usually joins at an early stage to help design the technical solution. After all, he knows what is possible technically customer. Large companies that have their and is able to indicate in this initial phase own engineering department can specify what BY MARJOLEIN DE WIT-BLOK whether or not certain ideas are feasible and they need and do so quite accurately. In terms whether there are perhaps smarter solutions of functionality, but also in terms of timing t’s not higher maths per se: when you than currently envisaged by customer. Yet and costs. This is different when dealing with start developing, testing and ultimately start-ups or companies that are scaling up. producing a complex mechatronic system manufacturing projects too can involve the Jakobs: ‘These are often companies where a on behalf of a customer, it’s important necessary further development and therefore promising idea has led to the development to know exactly what he actually wants. in practice, the lines of communication with of an initial prototype and where we can Or rather: what he needs. But also: when. the system architect are always kept short.’ use our knowledge to help with the developRuben Jakobs is CCO at NTS and knows: ment of the product and the step towards ‘To truly understand this, our customer is Not much later, the project manager too starts industrialisation and manufacturability. At assigned a single point of contact: the account planning for all parties involved in the agreed these companies, which are made up entirely manager. He is the most suited discussion project. In doing so, NTS places a strong of pure technicians in most cases, developing partner for our customer and initially focuses focus on selecting the right production site a clear insight into what we need in terms of on identifying the customer’s underlying at an early stage, so that it can include the information from them to be able to develop needs: what functionality a certain module production in its planning amply in advance. the modules takes considerably longer.’ should have, how the integration should take Jakobs: ‘We have production sites across the The relationship between quality, costs and place in which machine, etcetera’. globe, each with their own specialisation. So planning is another important topic for we always try to select the site that best suits discussion in these young companies. When a specific product. Not only because this TAILORING QUESTIONS a customer needs a solution in the very short benefits product quality, but also because this TO CUSTOMER MATURITY term, it comes at a cost. If he has more time, allows specialists to think along about the The simplicity of identifying the customer’s it’ll give NTS the opportunity to develop a final picture. For example, we assisted a needs depends on the ‘maturity’ of the
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Special High-tech The Netherlands - April 2022
