Value Co-Creation in Industrial Buyer-Seller Partnerships ... - Doria

efficiency. Efficiency is related to a number of activities, namely condition-basedmaintenance and optimization of component lifetime, fleet-wide standardization ofprocedures, improved fuel economies and optimizing procurement, and logistics.Regarding changing of components, the Buyer wants to optimize component lifetimeand create a system through which they would not change components according toprescribed specifications by the supplier according to running hours, but instead switch to asystem where they would assess the need for changing a certain part and only change itwhen there is an actual need. In order to do this they need the specific know-how possessedby the Seller to be able to determine the critical balance between level of deterioration andreliability of the component. The condition-based maintenance program is an effort in thisdirection.” We are in the process of developing the system where instead of just blindly changingparts, we measure and test whether there is a need to change it. We do it withouttaking the part out and change it only when there is an actual need for it. A moreintelligent system, but it requires some development when there are 20 ships involved,in this case it has to be developed systematically and so that it works. There ispotential in this. Some people might have a different opinion, but in the case of thissize of firm there certainly is potential in this” . (Interview: Buyer 1)Cost avoidance is believed to be a factor affecting operational efficiency. It is believed thatby working for the long term with a trusted partner unnecessary costs can be avoided.“ And one of the things I’ve talked a lot to my boss about and he’s supportive of it, andis something that I am trying to do across our team, is, even though, ultimately, as acompany, you know, I have to add value to the company, how much money did I makethe company today? Ultimately, that’s the question, but much of my job, whether it’ sworking with the Seller or anybody else, is cost avoidance. And again, that’s hard toqualify because I didn’t bring you a dollar or savings but I just did something thatprevented the cause… something that prevented the cause, or the ship not to get a partthat was critical to their operation. And so to me, we need to capture that positivething. And we do a lot of cost avoidance.” (Interview: Buyer 14)One of the most obvious benefits in the area of operational efficiency that can be gainedfrom a partnership with a supplier is to find more efficient ways of taking care of logistics.The dealing with spare parts is the biggest day-to-day activity between the companies andthe Buyer considers that a benefit of the partnership is that there are efficiencies to begained for both parties concerning more efficient handling of spare parts.142” It is clear that if we can avoid having a certain spare part on board the ship we cansave a lot of money. We have some millions of dollars in spares on board the ships,