When the designs were ready and all the parts were in production, Duncan approached us: ‘Where are you going to do the assembly of your wonderful machines?’ Usually, we assemble our machines in our workshop with our own people. That way, our cutting masters and assistants know the machines inside and out which helps tremendously once they are offshore. “Assemble them maybe with us, in our machine shop and with your people. Then if there is anything we can intervene immediately.” And not only was the project leader Duncan behind this idea, the CEO of VYTECH in Menen also invited us.
Not only were we allocated a nice piece of their workshop, but we were also allowed free use of their facilities and even a real office, fully equipped.
Immediately after the assembly started, it was clear that everything went much more smoothly. A fit that was too tight, a weld that protruded too far, a bolt hole that needed some correction, it was taken care of immediately. No endless phone calls or detailed e-mails, no couriers, no extra transports, no waiting times. Just speak to the turner, the miller, the welder, the bench worker and it was taken care of.
This collaboration had a nice unexpected spin off. The technicians who had spent months meticulously producing all the parts now saw everything coming together to form beautiful machines. Several times they came to visit us during assembly to marvel at the combination of all the parts they had made. And they freely gave advice on how to make things even better in the future. The know-how we were continuously presented there is a goldmine for the future. We also carried out the Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT) with them. It makes everyone proud!
“Alone we can do so little;
together we can do so much.”
