Influencing total costs of ownership in the tendering phase

Purchasing decisions of capital-intensive goods have a long-lasting impact on the company's profitability. As a result, potential buyers of capital goods want to know and understand the expected Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) during the tendering phase. Vanderlande is a supplier of capital-intensive goods who is increasingly faced with TCO related challenges. Interestingly, many Vanderlande systems are designed to satisfy specific customer needs, so how can you estimate the (expected) TCO phase when the product design is not frozen? And how can Vanderlande create the highest added value, by influencing the TCO by making a smarter system design? Together with Eindhoven University of Technology, Vanderlande developed an intuitive tool that enables Vanderlande to calculate, evaluate and influence the TCO and the System Availability of a customer-specific design in the tendering phase. This research project shows that it is both smart and financially feasible to design for availability. This award-winning project is portrayed in this best practice. Moreover, recent applications of the tool during tenders demonstrate the added value of the tool.