In any industry, reputations are easily made and easily broken. This is especially true when companies expand into new territories and global markets. Even for a long-established business with a reputation like the Sintek Group, it’s still important to deliver exceptional customer value, every time, to every customer, everywhere in the world. Building heavy industrial facilities, like cement factories, is a complex process with multiple moving parts which needs a multidisciplined team in order to carefully handle every phase, from the initial tendering to handing over the keys to a brand new turnkey facility. At Sintek, customer value lies at the heart of what we do. Here are four ways we aim to achieve that:
1. Close Customer Relationships
By anyone’s standards, designing, engineering, and constructing a heavy industrial plant is a huge undertaking. Most clients approach us with a predetermined, but estimated budget for their build, and a typical tender runs to 500 pages. The Sintek team gets involved in the process from the very begining, going through every detail in order to understand exactly what’s required and collaborating with our customers to ensure their project becomes a reality. This extends from our engineering team right the way through to our project managers. Our offer preparation team aren’t just good at pushing products, the strength of our global network means they understand what we offer, and how it can take the pain of the process for our customers. Yes, we have a pre-existing reputation for high-quality industrial construction projects, but we don’t rely on reputation alone to keep customers happy. Through our collaborative ways of working, customers can get as involved or as hands-off as they wish. A closer working relationship with our customers leads to better value for them, especially if we need to adapt pricing to fit a revised scope.
2. Transparent And Realistic Pricing
We know that putting a large-scale industrial construction project out for tender requires detailed and thorough preparation, so we aim to deliver the most cost-effective solution for your budget. However, the impact of the global pandemic, war in Ukraine, and problems with supply chains in China mean that we have to be realistic and upfront about the true costs of materials and labour in different parts of the world. We take a consultative approach to our customers needs, and we’re realistic about the costs. Suppliers’ prices change daily, so estimates from the previous year are almost certainly out of date by the time we prepare an offer. In addition, the global demand for cement production is booming, so essential materials for building cement factories, such as cement itself, steel, motors, and electrical parts are facing huge demand and limited supply. For materials such as copper, we’re seeing price rises of up to 40%. For large companies, the different levels of authorization needed to increase budgets in line with these cost fluctuations means that getting the go ahead can take time and create friction in the construction process. Sometimes the need to reduce costs leads to a reduction in scale. However, it’s worth remembering that for Sintek our level of involvement, and the time it takes to manage your project, are the same, regardless of scale.
3. Source Skilled Labour
When it comes to the true cost of construction, our prices are determined by suppliers and labour costs, which vary greatly in different parts of the world. Our operations in Türkiye have a ready-made workforce with a reputation for high-quality workmanship. However, to comply with regulations, this workforce is not transferable to places like the UK and US, so we use our extensive network to source skilled labourers. Due to fluctuations in exchange rates and the relative strength of a particular country’s economy, we generally find that using local talent is not so competitive , which we take into account when estimating the cost of subcontractors. Our customers trust us to get the best prices for materials and labour. But they also understand that quality comes at a price. Using our deep and extensive network, we prefer to work with recommended subcontractors for international projects, rather than simply searching for them online, so we can be sure we get the right people for the right project, and meet the same exacting standards as our operations in Türkiye. For our customers, we act as trusted advisors drawing upon our established and experienced network, wherever we are in the world.
4. Expert Project Management
When you’re dealing with the construction of a heavy industrial plant, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Mistakes can be costly, both in terms of time, money, and even human life. With a turnkey solution from Sintek BV, every detail of your plant’s specification is handled for you, and we’re transparent from the get-go about the time it takes, and the ever-changing labour and materials costs associated with a highly-complex build on an industrial scale. No-one likes to hear that costs have gone up, but at Sintek BV we always aim to be transparent and realistic about global supply and demand, collaborating closely with our customers to provide the most cost-effective solutions for their budget.
Find out more about our company and its commitment to providing exceptional customer value.
