Continental names top 2013 suppliers

At Continental’s Supplier Day 2014, held recently in Prague, the tyre maker and automotive systems provider honoured suppliers that offered “outstanding performance” last year. The company gave Supplier of the Year 2013 awards to 16 of its approximately 900 key suppliers at a ceremony attended by 370 invited guests. Awards were given for excelling in four key areas: quality, technology, logistics and purchasing conditions.

“New products and trends call for new technological solutions,” stated Continental Executive Board chairman Dr. Elmar Degenhart at the ceremony. “As we develop these solutions we depend on the support of our suppliers. And nowadays, in any close cooperation, it is more important than ever to exchange ideas at a very early stage of the development process.”

Every year, Continental presents its supplier awards in three sectors: Electronics, Electro-mechanical Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. Then there are awards for Division-specific Services for the three Automotive Divisions – Chassis & Safety, Powertrain, and Interior – as well as for Investment and Engineering Services. For the last four years, along with these regular award categories, there has also been a special Quality Award to honor exceptional performance in terms of quality improvement and at the same time underline Continental’s high expectations when it comes to quality. The Quality Award 2013 went to Reich GmbH, Germany – a manufacturer of precision vehicle parts and special ball bearings.

Supplier of the Year 2013 awards in the Electronics category were presented to Nihon Dempka Kogyo Co., Ltd., Japan (frequency devices), On Semiconductor, USA (diodes, transistors, logic ICs), and Renesas Electronic Corporation, Japan (micro-controllers). In the Electro-mechanical Engineering category the awards went to ept GmbH, Germany (plastic mechatronics), Mektec Europe GmbH, Germany (special PCBs), and MS-Schramberg GmbH & Co. KG, Germany (magnets), while the winners in the Mechanical Engineering category were Scherdel GmbH, Germany (stamping), Mesa Parts GmbH, Germany (turned parts), and CW Bearing Cixing Group Co. Ltd., China (bearings).

Four companies carried off awards for outstanding performance in supplying Division-specific Services: Otto Fuchs KG, Germany (aluminum extrusion and precision machining) for Chassis & Safety; Japan Display Inc., Japan (LCDs) for Interior; and Kyocera Corporation, Japan (piezo ceramics) and IMA 1, S.L, Spain (machined components) for Powertrain. The awards for Investment and Engineering Services were presented to Ferchau Engineering GmbH, Germany (engineering services) and ASM Assembly Systems GmbH & Co. KG, Germany (automatic insertion machine).

Continental’s aim over recent years has been to work with better suppliers, and fewer. “As part of our purchasing strategy we are increasingly concentrating on the most capable companies,” shared Günter Fella, head of purchasing at Continental Automotive. “Over the past six years this has already led to a 14 per cent reduction in the number of suppliers that we commission. Our long-term goal is to acquire approximately 90 per cent of our total purchasing volume from roughly 1,000 suppliers.”