Industrial subcontracting consists, for a company, in entrusting another company, a "subcontractor", with the performance of one or more operations for the design, development, manufacture,..." />
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Focus on the principle of industrial subcontracting

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Industrial subcontracting consists, for a company, in entrusting another company, a "subcontractor", with the performance of one or more operations for the design, development, manufacture, implementation or maintenance of the product. 

The different types of subcontracting

  • Specialist subcontracting. The company giving the order does not have the necessary skills and know-how, so it tries to make up for a lack. 
  • Capacity subcontracting. The company does not have the technical and/or human resources to respond to a customer request within a given time frame. 
  • Market subcontracting. The user company entrusts the execution of the contract to another executing company that has developed.
  •  Cascade or chain subcontracting. The subcontracting company decides to entrust its mission or part of it to another structure. We can speak here of rank 1 to N subcontractors. 

What are the benefits of subcontracting?

Subcontracting is growing more and more because it allows companies to develop their markets and remain competitive in a competitive economy. 

In order to remain focused on their core business, the company calls on a subcontractor and entrusts it with activities with little added value. This enables it to offer more global offers even if it does not have all the know-how required, to obtain contracts for which it could not respond fully.

It therefore enables SMEs to link up with each other in order to meet more demands and be more visible to large groups. 

Subcontracting contracts

All sub-contracting assignments take the form of a contract between the sub-contracting company and the user company. This contract sets out the subject, the price and the conditions for price revisions, the terms and conditions of services, the payment period, guarantees, the date of signature, the effective date and duration, the terms and conditions for amending the contract...

Certain contracts sometimes require the signature of a NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) in order to keep confidential the information that would be transmitted between the two structures.

The means set up for subcontracting

Industrial subcontracting remains very little known but is nevertheless very widespread in mechanical companies because there are buyers specialised in subcontracting with a budget of several million euros per year for certain GEs. 

In addition, many large companies have a supplier portal. It is freely accessible and all companies can register. It is therefore difficult to stand out. This type of portal is a kind of tender site for the company where advertisements are published. They cover different sectors, from construction and public works to mechanical parts, electrical and gardening services.