Four collective opportunities for Neuchâtel's industrial subcontractors
What are the current challenges and prospects for Neuchâtel companies active in industrial subcontracting? The Neuchâtel Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CNCI) and the Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (BCN) have joined forces with the University of Neuchâtel to draw up a strategic diagnosis of this sector of activity.
The results of this study, detailed in a brochure entitled "Echosystème: des opportunités pour la sous-traitance industrielle", were presented on Thursday October 4 at the Musée international d'horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds. They are the result of a participatory approach involving some thirty Neuchâtel entrepreneurs, who gave interviews to the researchers and took part in a wide-ranging brainstorming workshop.
While this publication highlights the enormous diversity of the region's subcontracting sector, which is a key factor in the competitiveness of flagship industries such as watchmaking and machine tools, it also highlights the need to increase the region's strategic capacity. An analysis of the ecosystem's strengths, weaknesses and threats has identified four opportunities for the future:
- IDENTITY: Raise the profile and visibility of industrial subcontracting as a specific field of activity, with greater communication inside and outside the region.
- RESOURCES: Pooling industrial and human resources to respond more efficiently and rapidly to customer demand.
- MARKETS AND PRODUCTS: Working together to prospect new markets and offer complex, high value-added products and services.
- TECHNOLOGIES: Collaboration between companies and training centers to develop new technological and commercial solutions.
Supported by the State of Neuchâtel as part of a regional policy project (NPR), this study shows that regional players are becoming aware of the need to work together to tackle common challenges, such as the remoteness of end customers, dependence on major principals and the difficulty of anticipating future needs.
Source: CP from the Neuchâtel Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CNCI), Banque Cantonale Neuchâteloise (BCN) and the University of Neuchâtel (UNINE).
