MANUFACTURER-SUPPLIER COLLABORATIONS IN THE DUTCH MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The Dutch machinery and equipment manufacturing industry is considered to be a volatile and increasingly complex industry. Machinery and equipment manufacturers are steadily evolving to assemblers. In the process of doing so, manufacturers will try to collaborate with suppliers to procure pre-assembled components, requiring effective integration of suppliers in the supply chain. This study aims to investigate what the current status and characteristics of manufacturer-supplier collaborations in the Dutch machinery and equipment manufacturing industry are, and if perceptions about outcomes and conditions of these collaborations differ between manufacturers and suppliers. A deductive approach using a survey strategy based on an internet-mediated questionnaire served as the basis for collecting primary data. Secondary data came from books and journal articles. The questionnaire was distributed to 412 machinery and equipment manufacturers and their suppliers. A total of 46 completed questionnaires were received, thus the active response rate is 11.2%. As roughly the same amount of manufacturers and suppliers responded to the questionnaire, results are representative for both manufacturers and suppliers. Collaborative product/project development is the most frequent used collaborative activity. In collaborations, mostly operational information is shared and commitment is more important for manufacturers than suppliers. A high level of trust is strongly associated with facilitating successful collaborations and a lack of information sharing is the most important obstruct. Manufacturers and suppliers have different opinions about the benefits of collaborating but agree that the risk of increased dependence on a partner is the most important risk. There is a relatively high adoption of collaboration between manufacturers and suppliers in the Dutch machinery and equipment manufacturing industry and to further improve partners should share more strategic information. Manufacturers and suppliers mainly agree upon the facilitators, obstructs and risks of collaborations but have different opinions about the benefits of collaborating, as a result this could be a point of interest to further improve collaborations