Welcome to our summer newsletter of the year. In this issue, we continue to be transparent about our organisational changes, and dive deeper into the professionalisation of Co-makership. Enjoy your reading!

“Organisational change won’t happen overnight”, literature tells us. Medium-sized and large organisations which have worked in a certain way for years have a natural resistance to change. It’s the repetition of the new message, sharing small initial successes and, where necessary, taking slightly stronger corrective action which will ultimately produce gradual structural change. According to the textbooks.

We are therefore proud and delighted with the significant results already achieved since the change of ownership at the end of last year. Two legacy projects have been successfully completed with an impressive final ‘sprint’. Through the tremendous efforts by our own people, for whom overtime temporarily became the norm, new tight planning tools and excellent cooperation with both the shipyards and Co-makers, we have demonstrated that craftsmanship and the drive to produce world-class interiors are very much alive in Struik & Hamerslag.

All our current projects are now underway for timely and succesful completion. Alongside these projects, we will use the balance of 2022 to finetune and embed the achieved organisational changes. We will also further integrate and optimise our new planning systems to ensure that we have a grip on the whole chain, from engineering and purchasing, through the various production steps to the installation of the interiors on board our clients’ vessels.

We are happy to see that various new projects are coming to the market, most of them starting end of 2022 and early next year. With the changes already implemented, alongside the further improvements we are now deploying, Struik & Hamerslag look forward to also making a world-class contribution to the interiors of these new yachts.

Samira started her journey at Struik & Hamerslag as an apprentice cabinet maker, where she learned the joinery ins and outs as part of her internship. All this while still studying at the vocational school for wood, furniture, and interiors. After graduating, she was asked to stay at Struik & Hamerslag to further develop her cabinet making expertise. After a year of fully developing these skills, there was the opportunity to join our veneering department. Without hesitation, she completely devoted herself to sourcing and combining the most unique elements. Not long afterwards, she was asked to become team leader of our veneering department, where she now safeguards the quality being produced and checks that the transitions between departments go smoothly. She gets great joy from her work because she loves the precision  involved in working with wood. When working with veneer, it is particularly difficult to ensure constant quality because every tree is different.

When asked about her most unique experience at Struik & Hamerslag, she says: “I was once asked to do a unique project on my own, using Walnut Root veneer. There’s a very special way of handling and working with this veneer not commonly used these days.”

Besides working at Struik & Hamerslag, Samira enjoys getting out of the house and going camping. She bought a campervan and totally refurbished the interior to her own liking. Whenever she gets some time off, you will immediately find her away camping.

Sharing work with stakeholders creates a dream project.
Building a yacht requires close cooperation. Many parties are involved, from the owner’s initial order all the way through to the final delivery of the project. We are an industry that builds dreams; a great responsibility, and one that we all need to respect.

Traditionally, our market has always been secretive, revealing nothing to the outside world. A huge number of yachts have been built without the client ever knowing who the suppliers and vendors are. Times have changed, and due to the increasing complexity of projects and the professionalisation of the client team, nowadays our clients want to be informed about the status of their projects, and know what is happening with their money.

For this reason, we now share our work with all stakeholders involved in the project. We obviously depend on each other to create these dream projects. If one company fails, the entire project may fail. As an industry, we make up a large team of experienced professionals, and we all know how to work around problems and challenges to create possibilities. This is our strength. But our greatest strength is transparency and acting responsibly as Co-makers on any given project. We share this value with our people, suppliers, and clients by being transparent to the people around us.

Whatever role we play in the process, we all need to share information with our fellow Co-makers. This information must be high quality and delivered on time. Without it, we cannot assure our clients that the project will likewise be delivered on time and at the highest quality. We therefore depend on everyone in the chain of cooperation, because our work doesn’t exist independently. It’s paramount that our market is transparent and open.

Communication is key
Opening our market allows us to embrace subcontractors in the process – it transforms them into co-makers that can communicate effectively with the shipyards, designers, and clients. The result is less friction and a more streamlined workflow from start to finish. Furthermore, transparency inspires faith in all the partners in the project. Being transparent in  communicating planning schedules, in our attitude and in how we work together is a sure-fire way to success.

Profit is not the sole interest of any one company working on a new build yacht. The sole interest is to realise planning and specifications, as agreed, and turn a project into a reality. This applies to the whole chain of cooperation – hence why subcontractors are in fact Co-makers.

Communication is key and everyone involved must be kept in the loop about the status of the project. This status of information obviously brings calm and an understanding of the project, but it also inspires and allows all involved to meet on common ground. With the correct knowledge, expectations can be easily managed. “At Struik & Hamerslag, we are more than transparent, and we love being part of the yard building such beautiful projects,” says Eric de Meij, Project Director of Struik & Hamerslag. “The yards participate in our monthly meetings, so that they know where we stand and what we can deliver. We plan to expand this imminently by providing the yards with direct access to our data, ensuring that they are up to speed even during the inter-meeting periods. This is a fast-paced industry, so we want to share our day-to-day records to provide maximum transparency. We want to instil trust and faith in everybody in the chain working with us. By doing so, we can deliver the project on time and to the agreed specifications.”

“In the future, we expect to be working on this same system together with our competitors because, when it comes to interior manufacturing, we can’t do it alone and in our opinion: cooperation is key."

Our previous newsletter pointed out that the challenges ahead for Struik & Hamerslag are about delivering and installing world class interiors on time, on budget, and according to specifications. This has set the tone for the professionalisation and subsequent growth for Struik & Hamerslag.

In order to be ready for the future, also the Sourcing & Co-making department must translate this vision into a strategy. Not only by reviewing the internal and external procedures & processes, but also by formalising the long-term relationship Struik & Hamerslag has with its Suppliers & Co-makers.

Struik & Hamerslag operates in the multimillion euro yacht industry, with hundreds of people’s income depending on it, and order books at shipyards till 2028. This means that the related industries can expect work from this for the coming years. This provides an opportunity to create a strategy beneficial for all parties involved; Formalising long-lasting relationships with key Suppliers & Co-makers. These long-term contracts should contain the following: an annual volume commitment, higher supply chain efficiencies, and KPI’s (on time, within budget and according to the specifications). With such a contract there is a commitment from both parties to become better together.

The new strategy for the Sourcing & Co-making department must also take into consideration the subsequent growth for Struik & Hamerslag. We will focus on producing those items to which Struik & Hamerslag adds the most value. Consequently, the Sourcing & Co-making department will outsource more to its Co-makers. Take structural work, for example. Being non-visual and with less added value in Struik & Hamerslag Value Chain, this will probably be outsourced more often. The same applies to the paint jobs required by the interior of a super yacht. In this make or buy analysis, the Sourcing & Co-Making department will consider whether a Co-Maker is complementary to Struik & Hamerslag capabilities.

To summarise this sneak preview of the new strategy in a message from the Sourcing & Co-making department to its Suppliers and Co-makers: in a metaphorical sense, Struik & Hamerslag is now laying the hull and in a few months’ time the yacht will leave the shipyard. Now is the time for our Suppliers & Co-makers to get on board and start this journey towards the ambitious goals set by Struik & Hamerslag.