It’s been over 30 years since Goudsmit first outsourced machining work to Lemmens. As was often the case back then, the seeds of this partnership were sown during leisure time. At the motocross track, Lemmens founder Jan Lemmens frequently ran into Goudsmit employees, and the collaboration was soon sealed there.
Decades have passed since then, and much has changed at both Goudsmit and Lemmens, but the partnership still remains. We spoke with Arno Wouters, purchaser at Goudsmit, about the relationship with Lemmens. Arno has been with the company for 30 years, 25 of which as a purchaser. Throughout all those years, contact with Lemmens has been part of his responsibilities.
What drives Goudsmit to maintain such a long-term collaboration with Lemmens?
“I think honesty is the key word here. On both sides—ours and Lemmens’. Over the years, there have been times when we made decisions that led to less work for Lemmens, but we’ve always been able to communicate about that openly and clearly. And the same applies the other way around: if Leon van Leeuwen (operations manager at Lemmens) knows that certain parts aren’t a good fit for Lemmens, he’ll say so directly. In recent years, Lemmens has specialized in large milling work, which means they no longer produce small turned parts. Now that Lemmens is part of Andra Tech Group, they also help us find a potential solution within the group in such cases.”
What’s the biggest advantage of this long-term collaboration?
“We know what we can expect from each other. We’ve been doing business together for so long, we know the people, the drawings, and what needs to be done. If something is missing or there’s a mistake on a drawing, Lemmens reaches out proactively. A new supplier wouldn’t know that, but thanks to the long-standing relationship we’ve built, a quick call or email is enough to prevent a problem.”
Do things ever go wrong?
“A typical example of our cooperation is that Lemmens sometimes starts production on parts that still require adjustments along the way. Lemmens is open to this way of working, which is usually very convenient, but it can also cause some friction from time to time. Luckily, when that happens, we don’t start pointing fingers. Instead, we sit down together to find the best and quickest solution. In the end, we always make sure the final result fully meets expectations.”
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