Bridgestone Poznan Plant Wins Ford Q1 Award

The Bridgestone factory in Poznan, Poland has received a Ford Q1 Award for the consistent high quality of its tyres. The Ford Q1 plaque and flag were received by Masayuki Sorioka, (managing director and president of Bridgestone Poznan) from Sven Wunstorf, STA Commodity senior engineer Ford Motor Company Europe, at a ceremony attended by staff in the Poznan plant on 27th August 2008.

Ford’s European Quality and Procurement Division awards Q1 ‘preferred quality status’ certification only to suppliers achieving a sustained level of excellence in customer satisfaction over a period of time, while also meeting agreed requirements in quality, productivity and service.

“We are proud to receive Q1 certification in recognition of the quality and consistency of our tyres and service,” said Mr. Sorioka. “I thank all the Bridgestone teams who have contributed to this success. We hope this will enable us to continue our long and successful partnership with Ford.”

The company’s manufacturing plant in Béthune, France also received the Ford Q1 Award in March 2008 for the quality of tyres and service provided. The Béthune relationship with Ford goes back a long way, having won the first ever Ford Q1 Award in Europe in 1989. Since then, Ford’s evaluation criteria have changed and this new Q1 award reflects the latest assessment.

“With around half a million tyres a year, Ford is one of our major customers and has been for 20 years,” said Bruno Capron, managing director Bridgestone Béthune. “All Béthune employees are very proud to receive this prestigious award for the second time. They will do their best to maintain and improve our reliability in quality and deliveries.”