C-Mec: machine components for the manufacturing industry

C-Mec produces as many as 20,000 different machine parts for major players such as Atlas Copco, Barco, Summa, Xeikon, etc. Twice a day, pallets of machine parts in the desired shapes and colours depart from Kortrijk and are assembled elsewhere, along with other parts from other manufacturers, to form compressors or other machines. “Our business model is controlled chaos. The better we manage to bring order to the organisation of repetitive orders, the more we can earn,” Dhont knows. Margins are low in the sector, which Dhont manages to absorb by producing high volume and accelerating stock rotation. At the same time, with the acquisition of VVC, he brought in a division that not only has strong market penetration, but also markets products – including innovative ones – on which the margin does not have to be ceded quasi entirely.

Manufacturing industry?

C-Mec proves that the manufacturing industry in Flanders is not yet doomed. He does not really fear competition from China or other low-wage countries. “We have focused on automation, as a result of which the labour cost is only a fraction of the total production cost. A robot costs as much in China as it does here. Our delivery time is very short and our transport costs are also limited. We believe logistics congestion will drive a more local-for-local driven supply chain. A Chinese player would have to set up a hub here to offer the same service.”

However, he does fear a departure of his customers from Belgium. “That would be dramatic for our country.” C-Mec works for the big machine builders that today hardly produce themselves and have become assembly plants or logistics hubs for parts made very efficiently by suppliers like C-Mec.

Banker

Without PMV, the start-up would not have been possible. Yves Dhont: “When I went to the bank, I had as little as one customer with Barco. Only PMV – which I knew as a banker – and Belfius believed in my story.” Dhont’s financial background comes in handy today: he speaks the same language as his financiers. When, after mergers at the bank, he felt he would no longer be happy there and the file of BMTech crossed his path, which was looking for a manager in Kortrijk, he decided to take the plunge. Later, Dhont and BMTech’s paths would part due to a difference in vision. Dhont again managed to find financing (with guarantee) to take the sites in Kortrijk and Kladno (Czech Republic) out of the now ailing group, and launched an investment programme (backed by a PMV guarantee) that led to, among other things, the takeover of VVC and a brand new factory in Bornem.

What is Dhont’s secret to unlocking funding? “Open communication is important. Equally essential is to honour every financial agreement.”