AC883 Solves the Spare Parts Crisis

Lars Bendsen joins the spotlight to discuss how AC883 helps
operators source turbine parts to cut costs and reduce downtime.
AC883 can offer faster response times and better pricing than
manufacturers based in Europe. Lars shares how his company's
approach helps prevent extended turbine downtime by providing quick
access to critical components. Fill out our Uptime listener survey
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YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the
show? Email us! Allen Hall: In the wind industry, a turbine
standing still often means one thing, waiting for parts that should
be readily available. This week on the uptime spotlight, we're
joined by Lars Benson of AC 8 83, which is based in Canada. AC883
has direct connections to manufacturers in Denmark where most
critical worm turbine components are actually produced Lars shares,
house site operators can cut costs and dramatically reduce downtime
by bypassing the OEM middleman and sourcing parts directly from the
original suppliers. Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining Light on
wind Energy's brightest innovators. This is the progress powering
tomorrow. Allen Hall: Lars, welcome back to the show. Thank you.
Spare Parts is a huge issue all over the world, but it seems like
in the US and Canada, there's always a shortage. They're looking
for spare parts. They don't know where to get them, and the easy
answer has been to call the original equipment manufacturer in
terms of the GE Vestus Siemens, cesa, Nordex, whoever that may be,
and just to place a order. There are other opportunities out there.
What happens when a wind side in Texas just decides to buy from the
wind turbine manufacturer? How much are they paying overpaying for
that part? Lars Bendsen: I can't say exactly on on dollars and
cents, but but we know the markup from the OEMs. Then they're not
shy of earning money on that, those parts. And yeah, so it's very
simple. We can get those parts directly from Europe directly from
the suppliers to the OEMs. Allen Hall: Yeah. And if I'm an
operator, and I haven't been over to Denmark to look at the
situation there, a significant number of critical parts are
actually manufactured in Denmark or in the surrounding areas. You
have no way of knowing that if you own the turbine, Lars Bendsen:
that's true. You don't. Somehow the OEMs have been really good and
keeping a bit of cloud cloudy around that area. It's actually
pretty simple. They all produced either in in Denmark and Germany
for basically all turbines. GE turbines is a target turbine from
Germany that that they bought back when. So that's why sim that's a
German turbine as well. It's not a US turbine at all. Allen Hall:
And the supply chain has remained that way for a long time. Lars
Bendsen: It's a BP parts. It's standard parts. There's no rocket
sites in it. Of course, there's some legacy some software parts and
stuff that we could be desk, some, what we call it electronic
boards, which software on, of course we can't do that. That's fair
enough, right? That's actually where the OOM has its value. That's
totally good. Joel Saxum: I think part of the reason that you see
this, that gap there in the industry is the simple fact that, and I
don't take this as a slight Lars because I love your website and
what you guys do for marketing and branding, but in that corner of
the world, and Alan, you and I were just talking about this couple
of German companies we're talking about they're not that good at
global branding and global marketing. As a unit like culturally, so
you don't see really what's going on almost behind that curtain as
an American, when you log in and go I need some breaks, or I need
this, or whatever. You don't see that manufacturer's website pop
up. You may see an AC 8 83 pop up that says, Hey we have we sales
spare parts. But you just don't as an American and to be honest
with you. Running around the United States talking to all these
wind site operators, they're so dang busy with their day-to-day
life and solving the, putting out the fires and the problems that
they have every day, that they don't have time to go search for
that stuff. So what do they do? They just call their procurement or
the person that they know and they say, Hey, get me this. And if
they end up overpaying for. 10, 20, 50% or whatever. It got the
turbine back up and runway because uptime is king. So what else are
you guys doing to strategically work with your clients and your
customers to make sure that they don't have to do that? Lars
Bendsen: Generally speaking, I agree with larger countries let it
be germinated. But the US and Big Canada they have such a big inner
market. They're horrible in doing export, generally speaking.
They're not good at it. They're really good at producing stuff and
doing the take care of their own stuff. Denmark, I think it's 97%
is export or being produced in Denmark, something like that.
Because we have five, 5 million people, there's no inner market we
need to get out there where the market, inner market in US and
Canada and Germany is so big. You don't, we don't need export.
We're not real good at it. And don't call Canada US export. It's
not export, it's the in the market. So far, Allen Hall: the
turnaround times from the OEMs tends to be slow if they have the
part in stock and there's so much demand at for some specific parts
that they don't always don't have it sitting on a shelf to send to
you, which is a huge problem. So you have to develop a subsequent
chain, a supply chain, and why not go right to the source? Which is
gonna be in Denmark for the most part. Why not do that as to source
the actual part instead of an imitation part or a refurbished part,
which I've seen more of recently. You can actually get the real
part. Lars Bendsen: It's still surprising me sometimes. We hadn't
known em last year. They just closed their warehouse for three
months. We just closing them. We cannot supply it for three months.
How's that gonna work? This wasn't a European summer thing, was it?
No, that was gonna be six weeks. That's only six weeks. No, it was
exactly in the fall, I think it was. And they just decided to close
it for three months. And I don't understand this, OEMs should earn
$0 on the turbines itself. They're earning money on the service and
the parts look at the accounting on vest and seems real. They're
earning no money. It's only on their aftermarket and vest, in all
fairness, are extremely good at it. Really good at it. They have
75% or whatever the accurate number is covered of the fleet with
service and parts is great. So we are not hunting as much vessel
because why would we find that needle in the haystack where you
could say that Siemens and ge they have less percentage, way less,
maybe half of that depending on countries, et cetera and areas. But
still, again, how can you allow yourself to just close your
warehouse to three months? Joel Saxum: That's crazy. Do let me ask
you something about that, Vesta the vests setup 'cause in my mind,
okay. I worked with a Danish company, very process driven, very
controlled. There was step changes in gates and, everything was
mapped out very well in how the company operated. So do you believe
that the, one of the reasons that Vestas may have a really good
control of spare parts inventory and the direct connection to those
sites is because they sign those. 20, 25, even 30 year FSAs. Is it
all based on this overarching business model that, that encompasses
that and the others aren't just, aren't doing that? Lars Bendsen: I
don't know. I think it's I think everybody wants to do it. That's
just my 2 cents. I'm not an expert in that area, but my 2 cents is
that vessel has the power to demand that. And they're not selling
any new wind farm without a service contract, whatever's 5, 10, 15.
They do not. Where some of the wind inside the smaller, they have
less power. The owners say, you know what, that's all well and
good, but then we're not gonna buy your turbines. And then GE and
Siemens has to cave in a little bit. That's my 2 cents. Joel Saxum:
I think strategically like GE with having expanded in their service
thing and then now changing it to the hub and spoke model, like I
think that this is my 2 cents, right? I think GE saw some bloat. In
what was happening in service. And I'm not gonna say parts 'cause I
don't think that's true, but service and this FSA and I think that
GE is actually strategically pulling back from signing these FSAs.
And because some of the stuff with, we've heard horror stories
with, and this isn't just ge, it's all the OEMs with, liquidated
damages, catching up with people and those kind of things because
they don't have access to spare parts. So they don't have access,
they don't have the service people to get out there quick enough.
So it's a, there's a large problem in the industry and I would say
that if you're a wind farm operator or wind site supervisor,
technician, whatever, it's at some point in time, you've felt the
pain of not having that spare part that you need to get your
turbine up and running. And that's where a C 83 comes into play.
Lars Bendsen: Yeah, I agree, but I also believe that some some
owners are too small that the OEMs even care. We have seen some
horrible example that, you know. Care list. That sales person sold
that wind farm. That's it. He can care list and the aftermarket
people sitting in Denmark and they are, they're closing at four
o'clock eastern as it's four o'clock. It's not four 10. It's four
o'clock.