How the chain works
The anchor builds machines from modules; first-tier system suppliers build the modules from parts; and beneath them a mesh of precision machining, mechatronics, optics and cleanroom services runs on decade-long relationships. Entry happens at your tier: qualify as supplier to a tier-one, deliver flawlessly, and let the chain pull you upward — proximity is currency, which is why suppliers open Brainport sites rather than export into it.
The regulatory layer
Semiconductor equipment lives under export controls: dual-use rules and national licensing govern what ships where, and chain participants screen partners accordingly. A Dutch entity with clean ownership, documented compliance and named end-uses moves through that screening the way foreign paperwork never quite does — the substance file doing double duty again: the standard.
The local entity
The pattern: a Dutch BV with a Brainport site — often starting as a qualification-and-service office, growing into production — hiring precision talent locally and internationally: the kennismigrant route. The chart above it is the standard skeleton, with the R&D stack applying to genuine development work here: the WBSO and the structure.