As a global player, Frencken serves customers in more than fifty countries. Over the past two years, the Frencken Mechatronics division has set up seven multidisciplinary programme teams. Depending on the project or customer request, they consist of experts from Europe, Asia and/or the United States. This Global Programme Management leads to even better solutions for the customer, and at the same time, Frencken strengthens its own market position.
The combination of global presence and local expertise proves to be a recipe for success
The choice of programme teams aligns with how Frencken is organised as a company: multiple locations on different continents, namely Europe, Asia and the United States. Global Programme Management links up people from various departments – production, planning, quality, purchasing, engineering – and their different backgrounds and areas of expertise. ‘Together, they form a kind of mini-company within Frencken, representing customer interests and the voice of the customer within our organisation’, says Richard van de Burgt, director of Global Programmes & Transfer Management at Frencken. ‘This enables Frencken to design or create beautiful products for that customer, to understand what the customer wants and to know what’s going on with the customer.’
The composition of the teams varies from customer to customer. ‘Some customers are located only in Europe, so we form a team with European people and we work local-for-local. Other customers do have representative offices in the US, Asia and Europe. That means we have teams on all three continents, which the programme manager links together’, Van de Burgt explains. ‘If developments occur that are relevant to the customer – for instance, Trump decides to increase import tariffs on products from China by 200 percent – programme managers look at how we can ensure that we can produce certain products at an acceptable price and/or, if necessary, adjust our production chain to continue to serve the customer well.’
Perfect mix
All these different backgrounds have advantages and challenges. ‘Because everyone looks at a problem through a different lens, you arrive at creative solutions that you couldn’t come up with on your own’, says Van de Burgt. ‘If you have a team with Americans, Europeans and Asians, you really have the perfect mix. Americans generally see opportunities everywhere, Asians are pragmatic and focused on facts and details, and the Dutch create frameworks and set priorities.’ Conversely, if you put people from Eindhoven, Singapore and Liberty Lake in the same room, it won’t automatically become a team. ‘Showing interest in each other, helping each other, and working together helps to build trust and eventually results in a more open relationship. That takes time.’
In addition, Frencken wants to continuously learn and discover. ‘Generally, we make a complex product in Europe first before we do so in Asia. Not long ago, we took up a challenging project. Frencken Europe and Asia set up production of a complex module immediately in Asia for the first time ever. ‘We succeeded, but we also learned a lot’, laughs Van de Burgt. ‘That fits our mindset. Frencken employees naturally possess a curious mind; we all want to see if it’s possible after all. Customers feel that positive energy too.’
Building blocks
Frencken has three centres of excellence. Frencken USA focuses on designing, developing, and manufacturing actuators and motors. Frencken Europe, based in Brainport Eindhoven, has expertise in co-developing high-tech machines, high-precision manufacturing, complex assemblies, and cleanliness. And at Frencken Asia, volume production and operational excellence-type matters take centre stage. ‘With these building blocks in mind, we talk to the customer about their view of the world, their product portfolio, and technologies that fit in with that’, says Van de Burgt. ‘This is how we put the puzzle together, determining what we do for the customer and where. Anything to help the customer move forward in an increasingly complex world.’
To do this effectively, Frencken establishes links between its locations to ensure that the right expertise is in place and that the supply chain and assembly are set up in the right location. Van de Burgt: ‘Depending on the customer’s requirements, the job will land where we have the knowledge. If it concerns a product with actuators, Frencken USA will certainly play an important role, often in collaboration with Frencken in Europe, when it involves high precision. In this way, we work together with the customer to create a joint roadmap: which new products does the customer have in mind and which technologies and services are needed for this?’
Balanced markets
In Van de Burgt’s experience, collaboration across continents works very well. ‘I usually have contact with colleagues in Asia in the morning, in Europe around noon and discussions with the US at the end of the afternoon. These different teams are aligning increasingly well, which helps us give maximum substance to the collaboration for the customer. Of course, this is also in our own interest: we want to be and remain a strong company, so we can also help our customers better.’
The centres of excellence serve three market segments, namely semicon, analytics & life sciences, and medical & healthcare; in Asia, the focus is also on industrial automation. ‘We’re also working on expanding space and aerospace. That’s not a new industry for us, but given our knowledge, technologies, and people, we can do more in it’, says Van de Burgt, who emphasises that Frencken strives for balance in the markets so as not to be dependent on a particular market. ‘Even in existing markets, we still see sufficient challenges to keep customers successful in the future.’
‘Success in Asia requires Operational Excellence, speed, and strong customer partnerships’
The collaboration between Asia, Europe, and the US within Frencken is best characterised as a strategic, high-value ecosystem built on specialisation and seamless integration, says Yong Chie Keing, Head of Sales & Programme Management at Frencken Mechatronics (Malaysia). ‘It’s not merely a transactional relationship of low-cost manufacturing versus high-cost design. Instead, it’s a sophisticated partnership where each region acts as a critical node in delivering complex solutions to our global customers.’ According to him it is also a collaboration of mutual learning and capacity buffering. ’When there is a capacity spike in the West, Asia can absorb the overflow. Conversely, when Asia needs support on highly complex new technologies for local customers, we can draw on the deep engineering heritage of our European or US counterparts.’
Success in Asia requires a combination of operational excellence, speed, and strong customer partnerships. ‘Customers in the region increasingly value reliability, consistent quality, and supply chain resilience. As products become more complex and supply chains more dynamic, companies must be able to deliver precision manufacturing while maintaining flexibility and responsiveness’, says Yong. Another key factor is local presence combined with global capability. ‘Customers want partners who understand the regional ecosystem – suppliers, logistics and regulatory environments – while still being able to support their global operations. At Frencken, we focus on building long-term partnerships with customers, supporting them not only in manufacturing but also through engineering collaboration, process optimization, and continuous improvement.’
