Project Approach by VSP—what, why, and how we do it?

September 2024 will mark almost 28 years since the time VSP, the company employees have started working in the field of industrial equipment supply for manufacturing enterprises initially all over the CIS. Then the territory, the market, narrowed somewhat, then shrank a little more... and today all the activity is focused on customers in Russia and in the Republic of Belarus. No matter how the political and economic situation affects the operation of our team in certain markets, these conditions have never changed the essence of what we want to do as a team, how we want to do our job as specialists.

And, of course, Russia has always been the main market for VSP. After all the upheavals of the early 2022, and the structural changes in the business, the company today is focused entirely at one task: the development of the main, core competence — the Instrumentation products business line. It has been noted before for more than once, but it seems reasonable to emphasize again:

The beginning was made in 1996, when VSP started cooperating with Parker Hannifin in the capacity of an official representative and distributor. Omitting unnecessary details, it seems we have done our job — we helped Parker Hannifin enter our market by providing marketing support, ongoing sales activities, and the whole standard list of duties of a bona fide distributor.
What turned to be the bottom line for the company at the end of the story of relationship with Parker? A dependent position on a large corporation which dictated what to do and how to do, limiting development not so much of ours, but, ultimately, that of its own. This is how we perceive the situation with the former manufacturing partner today.

But do we have anything to regret or complain about? No, not at all! Without any doubt, no! All the experience that we avail of, most of it was gained precisely on the basis of working with "western" suppliers, on the basis of technologies and products that we presented to customers, on the basis of the expertise of world-renowned companies — excellent product quality, high level professional culture, the concept of obligations... We have learned a lot.

For the first time in the company, we started considering such terms as "geopolitical risks" after 2014. We contemplated for a long time, concerned with a possible reaction of our "senior" partners, but in 2019, an irrevocable process of diversification, restructuring of relationships, was launched. Five years ago, we began working on establishing new VSP relationships with suppliers of instrumentation products globally — Germany, Italy, Russia, Japan, China, Korea, India, America... As it turned out, the decision taken was correct.

What do we imply under the concept of a "project approach" today, in 2024?

We do appreciate the level of trust established with the company's new partners and are always open to a professional and substantive dialogue with the entire market.

The VSP project approach is the choice of a project or a task that is interesting to us, but not so much an enquiry received in a company mailbox for specialists to work through; developing relationships with a long-term customer year by year striving to meet and adapt to the changing needs of his business; ensuring the possibility of «same day» delivery from the VSP stock in Moscow for completing Metran solutions, as well as providing the best pricing terms in the market for the customer; increasing sales level for such holdings as Rosneft, Lukoil, Sibur, Rosatom, Gazprom... which means compliance with the entire set of requirements for the offered products, approvals, and for the supplier himself…

The VSP project approach is a responsible practice in our own interests, when we understand that the level of return on our work and further business development prospects depend only on how we do our job today, here and now; when our reputation is significant; when efforts to meet the customer's project requirements translate business relationships to a new level — they lead to a long-term cooperation.

Are we ready to trade entrepreneurial freedom for "lighters and pens", as the Indians once exchanged their wealth and land in America just a few hundred years ago? The rhetorical question is the conclusion to these brief considerations.