With the visit to the Tsubaki factories in Portland (Tennessee) and Chicopee (Massachussetts) in March this year, APM has again taken a step in strengthening the network within the automotive sector.

Prepared with a large number of proposals for streamlining production in Haaksbergen, both parties were able to increase production capacity. This made it possible to simplify logistics. And, the costs could be reduced.

In addition, new expertise has been gained. Peter Langman, manager at the Haaksbergen site, explains that during the trip to the United States, new insights were also gained with regard to our own production processes.

“In our business operations, we do not only focus on production technology; we also want to work smarter, more reliable, more efficient and more transparent throughout the chain. Process innovation therefore. By sparring with our clients and therefore exchanging ideas, you gain new insights. ”

“Just a tour of the Portland site brought the first inspiration. We have seen how our plunger is assembled in the final product i.e. the timing chain tensioner and how on-site logistics can be simplified. Much of what we saw there, on returning to the Netherlands, immediately led to improvements in our part of the production process. Our job is to make it easy for our clients and to ensure that our services are optimally aligned with their manufacturing process.”

Tracking and Tracing

“In Chicopee – during our second visit of the trip – our hosts gave us ample opportunity to speak extensively with the staff. We exchanged ideas with the management team about quality management with regard to the plungers to be supplied by us. We also discussed how we could optimize the various production steps in the supply chain for the American market.”

“Naturally, all this also applies to the IT processes supporting the tracking and tracing of the products in the entire supply chain. We continuously work to a 0-ppm quality level and know better than anyone that the “Just-In-Time” methodology in the automotive industry is of vital importance. ”

Foundation

Managing Director Guido Gerritsen, just like Peter Langman, also looks back with satisfaction on the visits to Tsubaki in the United States. “It was of great added value to get to know our partners personally and to discuss current affairs and innovations in this way. As a result, an even stronger foundation has been created under our cooperation with Tsubaki in the United States. “