Vandewiele: 'Even electric cars contain parts supplied by us'

Few Belgian companies invest as much in R&D as the Kortrijk-based engineering firm Vandewiele. And that pays off. ‘Staying at the forefront of technology and exceeding market expectations are our goals,’ says CEO Charles Beauduin. 

 Vandewiele started out 165 years ago as a manufacturer of weaving looms. ‘They were highly mechanised systems, with axles, gears and gearboxes,’ says CEO Charles Beauduin. How different the company's products are today. ‘Where there used to be one motor per machine, there are now 14 000, all computer-controlled. Mechanics have been replaced by electronics and robotics. We’ve become a technology company.’

Philippe Selleslaghs can confirm this. As a senior banker at KBC Commercial Banking, he has been Vandewiele's dedicated contact at the bank for many years. He has closely followed the company's growth. ‘When I visited the company 15 years ago, robots were already operating in the warehouse.’

The company now has production sites in 14 countries. Altogether, they employ nearly four thousand staff. True to its ethos, Vandewiele gives those production sites an exceptionally high degree of autonomy. ‘Giving everyone the opportunity to grow is something that today falls under the S in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance reporting, ed.),’ says Beauduin. ‘But we don't need reporting for that, it's in our DNA. We don’t work with expats who go abroad to direct operations, but instead with local management teams who are given the freedom they need, whilst acknowledging and respecting cultural differences.’

There are issues around conducting financial transactions abroad, especially when large sums of money are involved. The company's main export markets are China, Turkey, the Middle East, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India, but Italy also accounts for a significant share of sales. ‘Transparent financial information isn’t always readily available in some of these countries, and extending credit to customers is risky for a company,’ Beauduin explains. ‘When we sell our systems there, we almost always do it through documentary credits, bank guarantees, and so on.’

KBC plays a role here, explains Selleslaghs. ‘We act as a bridge in such cases by liaising with the customer's local bank and acting as a credit pass-through bank.’
And for Vandewiele, that is essential. ‘The price of a loom is getting on for 2 million euros. For an amount like that, you want certainty.’ For even larger sums, KBC sometimes also offers the foreign buyer a tailored credit.

KBC also works closely with Vandewiele in China, or at least with the company’s Chinese branch. ‘In line with our decentralised approach, we have never imposed our own main bank on our site in China. We simply told them that we have a good working relationship with KBC and that the bank also operates in China. Beyond that, it was up to the bank to convince the local management team of its added value. And KBC succeeded in doing that,’ says Beauduin.
The reason for that success was the attractive credit terms the bank offered, ‘but also our relationship with the parent company, and especially our deep understanding of Vandewiele,’ says Selleslaghs.

In 2021, Vandewiele acquired its Italian counterpart Savio. ‘Financially, that was a significant acquisition,’ Beauduin says. ‘We bought Savio when it was struggling, but we believed we could engineer a turnaround. When you’re talking about a company that is active with capital goods, you obviously can’t achieve that overnight, but we were confident.’
KBC immediately bought into the narrative. ‘We could have financed the acquisition ourselves, but as a company in a cyclical sector, you like to keep a buffer to cushion possible ups and downs,’ says Beauduin. ‘The low level of interest rates also played a role, of course. The application to KBC went very smoothly; we secured a credit facility on favourable terms. So our relationship goes back a very long way.’

For a good relationship between bank and company, continuity and expertise are especially important, Beauduin believes. ‘You need a dedicated contact at the bank, who knows the company's needs inside out and can act as an intermediary to put you in direct contact with specialists, whether it's for real estate leasing, renting, trade finance or investments.’
Selleslaghs agrees. ‘I see it as my job to understand the business and the industry as thoroughly as possible. This allows us to act as a relevant sounding board on major investment projects. Because Vandewiele works with lots of different departments within KBC, I also oversee the overall relationship and look after the company’s interests at credit committee meetings.’

According to Selleslaghs, Vandewiele can serve as a key inspiration for other Flemish companies. ‘It can set a shining example thanks to its impressive growth trajectory, but perhaps even more so thanks to its technological leadership, which it has built through continuous investment in research and development.’
Those investments today are largely focused on energy efficiency. ‘Of course we want to produce more efficiently ourselves,’ says Beauduin. ‘But above all, the machines we supply to customers need to become more energy-efficient, because ultimately that has the biggest impact. We strive to minimise the wastage of energy and raw materials. Greener, cheaper and more efficient in all our areas of activity: that’s our ambition.’