In a bid to reduce downtime and improve efficiencies, world-leading subsea robotics design and manufacturing specialists, Soil Machine Dynamics (SMD) has entered into a parts and services framework agreement with marine contractor, Van Oord.

The partnership will see both companies sharing industry insight and knowledge to work together to radically change the way traditional customers, vendors and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) work together.

Founded over 50 years ago, SMD has been a key player in booming industries such as telecoms and more recently, offshore wind. It has established a stellar reputation of designing and building pioneering machines as well as delivering exceptional technical support. This step change into framework agreements is the beginning of a new service-led approach to complement its core business.

Liam Forbes, general manager of services at SMD, explained: “We are delighted to share the news of the framework agreement with one of our key customers, marine contractor, Van Oord.
“Van Oord is one of the most progressive businesses we have had the pleasure of working with, it understands the need to think outside the box in order to stay ahead of the curve.

Rob Eddon, Key Account Manager at SMD was instrumental in setting up the agreement: “The three year agreement means Van Oord can access SMD’s OEM expertise, a set price list of all parts and services and 24/7 worldwide technical support. This will vastly reduce the cost and the time it takes to purchase, modify or repair parts.
“To provide context, SMD delivered the Dig-It and Deep Dig-It trenchers to Van Oord in 2018 and 2019 respectively, any modifications or repairs they may need will now be conducted directly with our team whether that is routine maintenance or in an emergency situation.
“This new arrangement marks the start of a new era for SMD and should make the whole procurement process a lot more streamlined and improve industry processes now and in the future.”

PROCUREMENT CATEGORY MANAGER, JORN BERTENS AT VAN OORD, SAID: “OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER TO SEE WHAT IMPROVEMENTS CAN BE MADE WITHIN PROCUREMENT, IN ALIGNMENT WITH OUR BUSINESS UNIT FOR OFFSHORE WIND, WE CAME UP WITH SOLUTIONS TO OPTIMIZE THE UPTIME OF OUR EQUIPMENT AND TO PAVE A PATH TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. WE DISCUSSED AT LENGTH WITH KEY PEOPLE AT SMD HOW TO CREATE A PARTNERSHIP THAT IS MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL AND WILL EVENTUALLY IMPROVE THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE AND WORK JOINTLY ON SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS.”