friend a to Letter Letter to a friend Devos JeanDevos from Jean
My Dear Friend
My Dear Friend
My dear friend,
“The Hour of Truth”
cable supplier industry is approaching the submarine The Bay” “Botany hour of truth, and the cableʼs owner needs to recognise it. goingtitle is not only system for a submarine market price The whose novel, a modest recently I published down and down at each project, but this price is now at the where in Australia place It is theonce is Botany are now gone natural, $1B contracts, level. TheBay. cost Alcatel established a forever!
cable facsubmarine decreased especially Some construction costs have actually the hypersectors, in the electronics and componentstory as part of 1989 in but pressure on prices by the buyers, together with the hyperits contract for the competition between the suppliers have created a dangerous link. In this may never 2recover. situation from which our industry Tasman wherepertwo bay, dollars same millions At todayʼs market size – a few hundred prices, thethe market year in the coming 5 years – and todayʼs centuries before present industry structure is not viable. French expedition
my to me, made it seems In front of such an obvious situation of Pérouse” “La friend, that the supplier industry is heading in the wrong
two ships, La Boussole
reaction, hiding their head in the sand! Everyone retrenches behind the thick walls of their fortress, waiting for better times, better prices, better conditions! They accept some orders at cost, so as to keep their capability alive!
need service but theymemory. to outsource They prefer tion: It in everyone’s was stillsuch event Warrior it at cost. So the solution is that in each “Maintenance STCfor(UK) thatships among theseofreasons is for and operate ownothers their members a couple Zone”, with a come suggestion Alcatel‘s thegroup. ships of their one or more to Making benefit of the therejected their decrease further would operations laying for available joint bid, to offer a “European” solution. maintenance costs.
One of the winning factors has been the
My friend, in my last letter to you I was stressing the necesPort-Botany cable factory. Such a factory was a sity to structure the Japanese industry. Here is yet another Telstra) and (now Alcatel OTC from requirement strong In France, to say: what I try to highlight example cable Alcatel ex The business. cable the from itself divested the Australian Government. capability is now with Nexans and Draka. The Calais SubSuch a most theis now Alcatel only Alcatel cable the motivated. factory cablewas marine telecom in the Pacific itsupinfluence expand couldkeeps factory the value chain. moving when Alcatel plant,
were units twohistorically and ASN(M), FT(M)players we haveother side three the shipsthe Onwhere other. eachrepresents against competing andthis servicesin offering which region, established well similar This does not make sense in the present circumstances.
a large part of their market. They saw this
help of an external with theexisting of reasonable A handful facilities! for their as a riskpeople, factory consultant, should sit around a table, forget the history, keep right time. at thewhich came Versailles ‘87 in SubOptic a solution come up with and their emotions down needs. future the serve better would It is where the Australian teams discovered the
and that will nottorecover market prices clear that the landed it isl’Astrolabe, But discover in 1788 and between cooperation just think that they “buyers” theclose , most of a dear friendmodel, MyFrench that there is an absolute need to restructure the global can they that and sell to ready supplier a find always will Captain Cook was already around bearing the Alcatel and FT, exactly what they wanted to esindustry. just squeeze and squeeze in a sado-maso way. me the forcable is nowThe Bayattention: Botany British tablish in their country. immediate require areasSo specificflag. Two But theses “buyers” should remember that the supplierʼs a reality! dream symbol of and Letʼs be simple works. becomes marinewhich anda the manufacture My friend, things are changed since, but corporate management acts in the best interest of their own and industry cable the of part be to cable needs clear; theTasman 2 has been yet another chapter company, something, offer you When true: one thing behind forever stand cannot They is normal. whichstays the marine needs to be controlled by the cable owners. activity! profitable non a in this long Anglo-French competition! The the reader can see between the lines if you are In the years to come the market will require no more than industry? of our term interest care of the long taking award to Alcatel came out as a big surprise to Who Then sincere. and motivated genuinely orisnot 30-50,000 Km of cable per year. Today we have at least Everybody Alcatel. inside including many, Devosoffer becomes really attractive and this your than the was Jean for more equipped each of them factories, four need. global naturally expecting the British to win that batopens the route to “Botany Bay.” besttime in the a cable maker who is owned onesuch And that wasisat anbyexpectation and tle,only position to properly buy the raw materials, manage the pervery logical. sonnel on a bumpy road, and then optimise the costs. Two many difficulties and structure. the rightso would be were factories There
Jean Devos Jean Devos See you soon.
Submarcom consulting Australia between misunderstanding their main- and needs to get the ship side, the cable owner On Member of Don Quixote is the cost. The cheapbeing at a one at cost tenance French presence themaintenance main theand France, Submarcom Consulting Director Axiom real driver; laying is a side business. No room there for in the Pacific area, the worse being the nuclear extra margin. The cable owners are presently in a contradic-
bomb experiment in Tahiti! The sad Rainbow
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