German companies take their time

Despite the many capabilities of the Dutch tech industry, German
manufacturers, which naturally have enormous capabilities
themselves, are not necessarily eager for everything that the
Netherlands has to offer.

First of all, Dutch suppliers have to clearly
understand where their potential clients stand, for example in the
process of purchasing and outsourcing. German companies refer
to outsourcing of ‘Baugruppen’, but for Germans this does not
always mean the same thing as what the Dutch refer to as ‘systems’.

The simple fact is that German companies are cautious about
outsourcing and often start by assigning relatively straightforward
work. For Dutch companies that want to enter the German market,
however, that work will often represent the first step in a relationship
that they can then build on. Once a German OEM trusts its supplier,
it will eventually ask it to do more, both in terms of volume and
complexity, and companies will also become more intensively
involved in the development phase.

As expected, the trend is positive: more work is being outsourced, also to other countries,
and the relationship between customer and supplier is becoming
closer.