Kusters - Neighbours in Venlo collaborate on Indian order

Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering develops and builds machines for various markets. In addition to installations for the rapidly growing recycling industry, these are mainly machines for devaluing banknotes and destroying confidential documents. The banknotes and documents are cut into very small pieces so that they are no longer usable or legible. Kusters supplies its machines to central banks around the world, as well as to printing companies and secret services. The company has fifty employees in Venlo and also has branches in India, where forty employees assemble machines and service the installed base.

Winning orders with economies of scale and efficiency

Kusters has been working with itsme for over thirty years as its main supplier of electrical and mechanical components. From its Venlo branch, itsme takes care of the machine builder's logistics. For example, it manages a kanban 2BIN system for the grab stock and, if desired, supplies complete kits per machine. ‘We benefit greatly from them in terms of logistics, particularly because of their efficiency,’ says Dick Janssen, strategic purchaser at Kusters. ‘This has been evident again in recent years when we had a lot of work to do.’ He refers to an ongoing project in India, which perfectly illustrates the close cooperation between the two parties.

“We benefit greatly from them in terms of logistics, particularly because of their efficiency.”

In 2022, a major Indian customer requested the replacement of twenty machines, installed thirty years ago, with systems offering greater capacity and functionality. It was a large project; each machine had six to eight switch boxes. Kusters was determined to win that order, partly to maintain its own branch in India, says Janssen. ‘Initially, we looked at the purchasing side to see if we could reduce the cost price. We did this with suppliers, including itsme. They made a valuable contribution by purchasing components even more cost-effectively thanks to economies of scale. When we received the order, the challenge was to get the goods to India as efficiently as possible with as little strain on our warehouse here as possible.’ Together with his colleague Willy Zetsen, team leader for material supply, he went through various scenarios. ‘Together with itsme, we then set out to find ways to increase efficiency.’

Delivery on export pallets

Guido Hahnraths, senior account manager at itsme, remembers it well. "Dick asked us if we could offer a project discount because of the economies of scale of twenty pieces. The idea was that we would deliver the electrical components directly to them. But when I thought about it, I realised that this would immediately negate the economies of scale because of all the handling at Kusters. We would deliver all the goods and then you would unpack, check and repack them. And then they would still have to be placed on export pallets. So we suggested delivering everything on those export pallets, fitted with collars, packed per cabinet and with about five cabinets in each box pallet. All you had to do was put them in the container if our exit check could be your entry check. That would save you a lot of time and energy, as well as packaging material. We would also take care of all the documents. Janssen thought it was a good idea and Zetsen gave him free rein to set up this project. ‘This allowed us to get the materials to India without too much handling, where they assemble the machines completely. We visited the itsme warehouse a few times together to look at it and discuss it. Fortunately, we are only one street away from each other.’

“Let the exit control at itsme be your entry control”

The first shipment was a bit of a puzzle, adds Piërre Gielen, head of internal sales at itsme. "We wanted to make it as compact as possible in that box pallet, given the maximum height of 1.30 metres for transport by boat or plane. We wanted to limit the number of pallet spaces required as much as possible. In total, the project comprises around 250 different orders, each for a complete cabinet or subsystem. We put a sticker on every box that goes into a box pallet with the customer's order number, our project order number, destination and contents. The same type of sticker is placed on the outside of each box pallet, with all the packing slips included."

Janssen: "Our electrical engineering department provides us with the specifications for each switch cabinet. We translate this into a single purchase order for itsme, which means we ultimately receive a single delivery, a single delivery note and, ultimately, a single invoice. Yes, we really notice this in the order flow. In the beginning, the administrative work was quite intensive for us and, of course, for itsme as well. But I know that it saves us a lot of work in the end.” Once the first orders were in the system and the working method had been mapped out, Paul Roodnat, E-Business Manager at itsme, became involved. He helped to set up the system so that orders were automatically assigned to the correct project and Kusters could receive and process order confirmations digitally. This resulted in real time savings for both parties.

Celebrating with a chip van

Kusters India has now built three machines. Janssen expects all machines to be up and running at the customer's site by the beginning of next year at the latest. He has enjoyed the intensive collaboration with itsme. ‘There are few suppliers who think along with us in the field of logistics as much as they do. With their capacity, knowledge, expertise and commitment, they really stand out. Together with them, we have ultimately achieved a better operating result thanks to economies of scale and greater efficiency.’ Hahnraths gratefully accepts this compliment. "I often say to my customers: 'Ask your question, no matter how crazy it may be, we can usually help, and if not, I may know someone in our network who can. Yes, I believe in open communication and seeking cooperation to achieve a win-win situation much more quickly.‘ Gielen adds: ’I have learned to always look for ways to reduce our workload by using automation to increase efficiency. At the same time, I want to ensure that the customer also has less work to do, because we have already done some of it. This project is another good example of that."

Both Kusters and itsme have been very busy with the orders and both were satisfied with the result achieved. As a thank you for the trust and to celebrate that the last orders were in sight, itsme organised a chip van to visit Kusters. Janssen: ‘That nice treat was very much appreciated.’ Unfortunately, Gielen and Hahnraths themselves were unable to attend. ‘We'll have to make up for that sometime.’ In the Kusters-itsme relationship, there are sure to be new moments to celebrate a successful project.

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