Meyer Turku is one of Europe’s leading shipbuilding companies, designing and building some of the world’s most advanced cruise vessels.
With more than 2,300 professionals, procurement plays a critical role in a complex, multi-project production environment. Materials, equipment, and services must be delivered on time, cost-effectively, and to specification to ensure project schedules are met.
Meyer Turku has utilised ValueSource interim procurement professionals to strengthen both resourcing and capability across its procurement organisation.
Starting Point: SAP Procurement Specialist for a Workload Peak
According to Veikko Gustafsson, Meyer's Head of Department for Equipment and Systems Procurement, shipbuilding procurement is a multi-project environment where each buyer is responsible for their own area. A ship project typically takes three to four years, and parallel projects can make resource optimisation challenging at times.
The collaboration between ValueSource and Meyer Turku began when the ERP transformation brought a significant volume of SAP orders to the yard's procurement organisation, with no margin for delays in processing the orders. Every delayed order affects deliveries, invoicing, and ultimately the entire shipbuilding project's schedule.
ValueSource was selected due to its ability to provide experienced procurement professionals with strong SAP capability at short notice. This enabled Meyer Turku to respond immediately without a lengthy recruitment process.
"The first interim professional quickly adapted to our SAP environment and way of working. From the start, the approach was efficient, collaborative, and focused on results." Gustafsson says.
From Targeted Support to Broader Collaboration
Following the initial assignment, the collaboration expanded. ValueSource experts began supporting a wider scope of procurement activities, including strategic sourcing, tendering, contract negotiations, and operational purchasing.
ValueSource’s experts have also listened carefully to Meyer Turku's needs and have been able to put forward suitable people proactively. Gustafsson emphasises that the interim experts know their own people well and can judge who fits which task.
"The mindset has been very practical. The experts focus on getting the work done, rather than defining boundaries. That flexibility has been important for us."
ValueSource professionals have integrated seamlessly into Meyer Turku’s organisation, working as part of the client team and contributing to both delivery and development. According to Kalle Koskela, Head of Department for Subcontracting, Services, and Contract Work, integration has gone exceptionally well, and the collaboration has been seamless and productive from the very start.
"Within my own area of responsibility, the ValueSource interim expert has been able to take on large tendering exercises in situations where we couldn't free anyone up from our own team. This has evened out the workload and helped us keep procurement on schedule. The expert got into our operations quickly, we speak the same language, and the trust is strong."
Flexible Capability at the Heart of Shipbuilding
According to Pirjo-Liisa Aaltonen, Head of Department for Procurement Development, the smoothness of the collaboration has been supported by ValueSource's Team Lead model, in which one experienced lead is responsible for onboarding new professionals and overseeing day-to-day work.
"They have one person on site onboarding the new arrivals and leading their work, and that has been a really big help. Overall, it has been a major plus that we've had different kinds of professionals available flexibly, both for short-term workload relief and for longer assignments requiring deeper procurement expertise."
ValueSource's experts haven't just filled resourcing gaps; they have also brought fresh perspectives to the development of procurement and ways of working. This has helped identify improvement opportunities that might otherwise have gone unnoticed in the rush of day-to-day work.
"An external perspective helps challenge existing practices and identify improvements that are not always visible internally," Gustafsson says.
Interim Procurement Professionals as Part of the Core Team
ValueSource has delivered to Meyer Turku what modern shipbuilding requires: rapid responsiveness, capable procurement support, and seamless integration into existing operations.
"The results have been extremely strong. Feedback from our buyers has been purely positive, and we've been able to address precisely the needs we sought help with. The added value shows up tangibly as savings through successful tendering, and as the fact that we've been able to serve our internal customers better, without delays," Gustafsson and Koskela sum up the value Meyer has gained from the collaboration.
The leaders of the Meyer Turku procurement organisation do not see any obstacles to continuing the collaboration. Procurement is being strengthened with new in-house hires as part of broader resourcing planning, but ValueSource's role isn't going anywhere.
"ValueSource's interim experts can respond quickly to changing needs, which matters a lot to us. We see continued demand for this kind of solution, especially in fast-changing situations where the workload grows. There is also clear scope for using higher-level procurement expertise in future projects, and we've already recommended them to other departments," Aaltonen and Koskela explain.
"I can wholeheartedly recommend ValueSource Partners to others, both for industrial procurement roles and beyond. Their operational support and systems expertise, for example, suit many sectors regardless of industry," Aaltonen sums up.