LEADERSHIP 3T is growing: ‘It does reflect well on us that we work for ASML’

3T IS GROWING IN BOTH SEMICONDUCTORS AND BEYOND, BY BINDING ITS CUSTOMERS AND CAPTIVATING ITS EMPLOYEES

‘IT DOES OF COURSE REFLECT WELL ON US THAT WE WORK FOR ASML’

In the past five years, the number of customers, turnover and profit at 3T, a developer of customer-specific electronics and embedded systems, doubled. As a relatively small company of around a hundred employees, it has also been able to count the crown jewel of Dutch high-tech among its customers, ASML, for 25 years. And the acquisition in September of last year by Kendrion, an international automotive-oriented business, has further strengthened 3T’s position. In which the company clearly keeps its own strategic goals in mind: improving its organisation and internal processes, technology management and more focus on markets, but not automotive.

BY WILMA SCHREIBER

n addition to 3T, Kendrion has now also recruited its CEO, Richard Mijnheer, so

COO Norbert Beltman has temporarily taken sole charge. Looking back, he notes that the takeover hasn ’t brought about any major changes: 3T continues to be a service provider for the industrial market. ‘However, much has changed and improved in the internal organisation, such as HR and Finance, in the past six months. The fact that we ’ re now part of a listed company does indeed lead to a different dynamic, but the developments are in line with the strategic course that we set out two years ago. ’

INDUSTRIAL QUALITY

With this, Beltman first and foremost refers to improving the organisation and streamlining internal processes. Second, 3T strives for technological thought leadership: leading the way in following new technology. ‘We ’ re not NASA, but we do want to remain attractive to customers and employees. That means staying away from competitive and commodity markets as much as possible and being active in a niche market. Continuous development also helps maintain our margins ’ , he explains. A fourth strategic goal is increased market focus, namely on complex mechanical engineering, medical, defence/security, measurement systems (test tools), but not automotive, which is, incidentally, a core business of Kendrion. ‘We mainly accrue knowledge of electronics and want to bind

‘An increasing part of our efforts at ASML is demonstrating that parts do what they are supposed to do’ , Norbert Beltman, COO, explains. Photo: Inge Heeringa

talents to enable Kendrion to carry out projects. In Germany, where you ’ll find the beating heart of the Kendrion organisation, the company is far away from knowledge centres, while Eindhoven University of Technology, Twente University and universities of applied sciences such as Saxion, Windesheim and Fontys are just around the corner. Focus on automotive should not be at the expense of the industrial quality of 3T, because that’ s where we really want to grow. ’

HTC SITE

In total, 3T now employs a hundred staff members, of whom eighty in Enschede and twenty in Eindhoven. Specialities include analogue electronics, motor control electronics, sensor interface electronics, FPGA technology, high speed interfaces and embedded software. Furthermore, 3T carries out the sourcing for the product (electronics) it developed. ‘Our added value mainly lies in small series and more complex products for customers for whom electronics is only a small part of the entire product and for which they often have no in-house knowledge, ’ Beltman explains.

EXTREME SCARCITY

This summer the 3T office in Eindhoven will relocate to the High Tech Campus. ‘We ’ re outgrowing the building and the campus projects a positive image towards both customers and employees. And it’ s closer to ASML. ’ The request from this high-tech giant from Brabant was, and still is after 25 years, making a contribution towards the development of electronic parts for new machines, new functionalities and improved performance. ‘Right now, however, there ’ s a strong demand to help solve the problems related to the availability of components, i.e. chips. Both in connection with chips that are declared obsolete and chips that are temporarily poorly available ’ , Beltman explains. ‘And the scarcity of chips is extreme right now, in all markets. That’ s why we ’ re also looking at redesigning boards to make other components fit. ’

INTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE

In the last five years, both the number of employees and turnover have more than doubled. And although extreme demand meant that ASML’ s share in turnover more

than doubled in that period, the non-ASML share doubled with it. ‘Seven years ago, we set ourselves the goal of somewhat limiting the relative share of ASML, combined with absolute growth. If we become too dependent on a single customer, it’ s a risk not only for ourselves, but also for the customer ’ , the 3T COO explains. ‘Since the acquisition by Kendrion, that dependence and the risk of our continuity have become less of an issue. ’ An important added value of 3T is its intensive knowledge of ASML and their way of working. ‘Many of our engineers have been around longer than ASML’ s own staff. We ’ re often asked to help train their people, as part of the induction or otherwise. ’

IN NEED OF A CHALLENGE

Keeping customers happy is one side of the coin, captivating your employees is another. ‘3T has to deal with a population of technicians who need a challenge, something that a role as service provider does not always automatically bring. While solving component issues is certainly satisfying, true technicians want to create new things. We need to make sure they can. ’ On the other hand, Beltman realises that 3T will remain a small company, even after doubling to 100 employees. ‘It does of course reflect well on us that we work for a global company and the technical challenges that come with it. The danger is, however, that you can only do that and no longer the small projects where you have a stronger bond with the products. For example, radar speed cameras that for a substantial part consist of our electronics.

That’ s quite different from supplying a single part to a machine worth 200 million that neutralises vibrations from a truck driving past 500 metres away. In that instance, you ’ re only a very small cog in a very big machine. ’

‘WE’RE EXPECTED TO ACTIVELY THINK ALONG IN TERMS OF SOLUTIONS AND DEFINING TECHNOLOGY ROADMAPS’

ACTIVELY THINKING ALONG

Furthermore, many projects for ASML consist of developing test tools to test new systems in an efficient manner. ‘We ’ re expected to actively think along in terms of solutions and defining technology roadmaps. An increasing part of developing complex systems is demonstrating that parts do what they ’ re supposed to do. Every day, something changes in machines and that all has to be tested again ’ , Beltman explains. Within that context, 3T is also developing its own initiatives, such as MINT (multi-interface development board, etc.), which is continuously being developed in line with ASML’ s needs and is now ready

for the eighth variant.

‘That test tool now travels around the world, at various ASML suppliers in the US, Japan and Europe. ’ In the near future, 3T will further formulate an answer towards the growing pains of recent years: improving the organisation, paying more attention to employees and project implementation. 'There ’ s still a lot to do. In part, Kendrion can help us with that professionalisation step, in other respects it really has to come from ourselves. We must and want to ensure that we preserve our own 3T identity and our brand, both towards our customers and our employees. ’

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