LIFT

Norwegian ship equipment suppliers deliver typical capital-intensive, advanced and customized products in low volumes to customers in the global oil and gas industry. This production form is called engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturing.

Several Norwegian engineering firms have been successful in expanding their businesses from just performing design to taking responsibility for the entire value chain until delivery and service to customers. Despite they take this responsibility, they put away many tasks related to production, assembly and testing to subcontractors. Most of the physical value creation they compete on happens therefore outside the company. This means that they are forced to take on the role of global value chain coordinators.

The product's size and uniqueness means that each crane or handling system is an individual project with different production needs and different suppliers located close to the end customer. LIFT will utilize advanced technologies for information exchange and coordination to develop logistical and IT solutions that would streamline collaboration and coordination of such project-specific and temporary supplier networks. This will enhance the competitiveness of Norwegian engineering firms, and help to "lift" the entire maritime equipment industry in line with the aspirations of Martitim21/MARUT. Operating in global value chains is demanding, especially when the product structure is deep with many levels of customized components. Cooperation with your supplier's supplier in the area of design and supplies of critical components can be essential for project success. You must be good at coordinating multiple layers of suppliers simultaneously.