Non-Disclosure Agreements
There are reasons that so many Semco clients have been with us for years. One of those reasons is, of course, the expert graphite machining work we do for our clients. Another reason is trust. We would like to take the opportunity in this blog to address a particular type of business contract, the non-disclosure agreement, which is essential to establishing trust in long-term business relationships like the ones we build with our clients.
The non-disclosure agreement is a legally binding contract that establishes a confidential relationship. The party or parties signing the agreement agree that sensitive information they may obtain will not be made available to any others. These contracts are common enough in the business world, but are used differently in different industries. In some cases, an NDA is mainly a one-way contract -- an entity, say an advertising firm, agrees to work with a client and not disclose any sensitive or proprietary information with anyone else, thereby protecting that company’s trade secrets, which could otherwise be used by their competitors.
Another kind of NDA is one that is common for businesses entering into negotiations with other businesses. These contracts allow the parties to share sensitive information without fear that it will end up in the hands of competitors. In these cases, the contracts may be called a mutual non-disclosure agreement. In graphite industries, and especially at Semco, the mutual non-disclosure agreement is the most common one in use, even though we are rarely taking part in negotiations. Let us explain why.
In our many decades in business, Semco has built up a great deal of knowledge about graphite machining, some of which we share with our clients as we work together on a project. At the same time, our clients share sensitive proprietary information with us that facilitates work on the project. Without this mutual sharing of information, the graphite machining work we do at Semco couldn’t happen. The NDAs that we make with our clients, therefore, are insurers of the mutual trust that we take great pride in building with our clients.
Semco understands how important it is to safeguard client information. We pride ourselves on being a world class custom graphite machining facility. That would simply not be possible if we would not apply the same level of care to our clients’ proprietary information as we do with our manufacturing performance. If we are to operate in an exclusive manner, where our customers come back with more work, it is important for them to feel that the data they are providing is secure. It is, and the customers come back.
We understand that our clients are placing their trust in us. Our mutual non-disclosure agreements with clients puts that in writing and puts out clients’ minds at ease. Their trade secrets and hard-won proprietary knowledge, as well as their important graphite components, are safe with us.