Qimarox was nominated for the Best Customer Award for the Dutch Industrial Suppliers & Customer Awards 2019 (DISCA’19). The manufacturer of vertical transport and palletising modules has been nominated by suppliers for the Best Customer Award. Companies that enable their suppliers to deliver as much added value as possible through transparency, clear communication and clear agreements are eligible for the award. Qimarox provides this by digitising and automating cooperation with suppliers as much as possible. The awards – an initiative of Link Magazine – will be presented on Thursday 21 November in Utrecht.
Has a company given its suppliers the opportunity to realise their strengths? Is the company looking for an equal long-term collaboration and willing to share risks and returns openly and fairly? These are the questions that determine whether a company qualifies for the Best Customer Award. All these criteria are derived from the most important criterion: did the company get what it really wanted? Or in other words, did the company adequately convey its wishes – about product quality, delivery times, price, etc.?
Qimarox invests a lot of energy in improving communication with suppliers. Using the Tradecloud platform, the Harderwijk company has fully digitised and automated the purchasing process. ‘We place purchase orders from our ERP system directly in Tradecloud. Suppliers see it immediately when a new purchase order is ready and can import it directly into their own ERP system without having to enter data manually. This ensures a much more efficient process, both on the part of Qimarox and on the part of the suppliers’, explains Purchasing Manager Hendri de Ruiter of Qimarox.
Making optimum use of competencies
All communication between Qimarox and suppliers is now in one place. Not only De Ruiter, but also the other staff within Qimarox can easily see what has been agreed. This advantage also applies to the suppliers. ‘Our goal is to capture as much knowledge as possible in systems. We go quite far in defining the specifications that the purchasing parts must meet. This prevents mistakes and misunderstandings. Especially at a time when there is a shortage of technical staff, it is important to communicate clearly and efficiently, so that companies are able to make optimum use of the competencies of their employees. This is crucial for us, but also for our suppliers’, says De Ruiter.
Currently, the nominees for all three categories – besides ‘best customer’ being ‘best knowledge supplier’ and ‘best logistics supplier’ – are subject to an extensive selection procedure. The selection is based on three measuring instruments, developed by Berenschot, DBSC Consulting and Brainport Industries in collaboration with Link Magazine. For each category, the five best scoring companies will go through to the finals. A jury made up of customers and suppliers to the finalists will measure them against the yardstick. The awards will be presented on Thursday 21 November at the Mereveld Farm in Utrecht.
