THE CHALLENGE
Van Der Leun Suzhou (VDL), an electrical engineering company based in Suzhou, China, engaged with B&R Enclosures (B&R) when searching for a company to design and supply housing for its maritime electrical consoles.
Shipbuilding company Damen hired VDL to supply its newest RoPax-branded ferry – which can carry hundreds of passengers and transport dozens of cars – with a batch of console desks.
The consoles were highly-customised and required a strong structure to house the technology that needed to be designed to bespoke specifications and conditions.
THE STRATEGY
Damen supplied a minimal brief for this console enclosure and then it was VDL’s responsibility to find a suitable supplier.
While VDL is an expert in building consoles, it didn’t have any previous experience in designing and manufacturing console enclosures.
B&R had formerly delivered a number of overseas projects for VDL, impressing the company with its high-quality and complexly designed products, and timely delivery. These projects included supplying powdercoated ss316L enclosures to VDL for a previous project where the end client was Damen.
VDL had previously used another company to design and deliver console enclosures in 2019, but was unimpressed with the work, as the engineering and communication of the design did not meet their required standards.
It was therefore a natural choice for VDL to approach B&R with its latest challenge to design and supply console enclosures for the Damen RoPax Ferry.
THE SOLUTION
B&R worked closely with VDL, which supplied B&R with design requirements and support.
The design and engineering of the console enclosures was a collaborative process within a team led by Marko Dimitrijevic, the General Manager of B&R’s international business, and Demen Jin, B&R National Sales Manager of China.
The work was supported by Vicien Zhao, the Design and Engineering Manager for B&R Suzhou, who worked with his team to revise the initial drawings and build on the designs.
Following back-and-forth communications with VDL, the design was completed to a high standard over a two-month timeframe.
The initial design took around one month to complete, followed by another month of working on engineering aspects such as production drawings and the bill of materials (BOM), before the design was signed off for manufacturing.
THE RESULT
The end result for the project was a highly-customised console enclosure that required bespoke piece-by-piece installation due to the console’s unique right angle corner design.
Following the supply of the consoles for Damen RoPax Ferry, B&R signed a contract to manufacture and deliver 5 new console desks for another project which Van Der Leun Vietnam (VDL Vietnam) had won.
VDL will also be engaging B&R to supply a further 6 to 10 vessel console desks for a future project. This new work is anticipated to be an easier design to implement as all of the vessels are identical.
CLIENT SATISFACTION
Following B&R’s delivery of its work to VDL, and its assistance in delivering the project to a high standard, the manufacturer received high praise for its work.
Martijn Houweling, General Manager of VDL, said, “B&R always responds in a timely manner to our needs and delivers high-quality products that secure our customers’ satisfaction and results in repeat business. I would highly recommend B&R for its high quality products and professionalism.”
