Suppliers are looking for routes to more independence, to bigger margins. But the routes available vary considerably. Some head down the road towards their own module while remaining closer than ever to their customer. That way, the customer feels comfortable relinquishing its demand for a second source and the supplier gets the opportunity to make parts of the client-specific technology available to other customers. The third group of suppliers is not interested in having their own modules or technology and instead continue doing their thing the way they have always done. But they no longer do it alone: they form a community of suppliers in order to develop and manufacture the product together. By international standards, Dutch industry is small in scale. Cooperation is in its DNA, in order to survive. And it is precisely that quality which is being used to become more independent.
Link 2, Zuid Nederland special 2016. Engelstalig
