THE idea of the internal customer works in a number of ways. As anyone who's "worked for an engineering group will confirm, intra-group supplier loyalty depends on all the same criteria you'd apply to an external supplier. Jarg Inselmann, managing director of AE Formen Und Werkzeugbau, Schortens, Germany, explains. 'Producers of die castings for the automotive sector face an extremely demanding market, and we are no exception. The central sales division of our parent, the AE Group, does not automatically source its tools from us, but asks several different suppliers to quote. Furthermore, we have to fill one fifth of our capacity by sourcing business from outside the group, in direct competition with German companies as well as tool producers in low-wage countries ranging from Poland through to China.' The AE Group is a development partner for car manufacturers and their first tier suppliers as well as for the aerospace industry, and is a pioneer in ductile and weldable, high-pressure aluminium die castings. One of seven toolmaking centres, the Schortens facility produces ISO new production dies annually while refurbishing some 300 to 350 others.
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