Comstar sole Indian supplier to win Ford’s World Excellence Award 2013

L-R: Comstar Automotive Technologies’ CEO and president Sat Mohan Gupta receives the award from Mark Fields, COO, Ford Motor Co. Also seen are Hau Thai-Tang, Group vice- president, Ford Global Purchasing (extreme left) and Raj Nair, Group vice-president, Ford Global Product Development (extreme right). 

Comstar Automotive Technologies has bagged the ‘World Excellence Award – 2013’ from Ford. Instituted 16 years ago, the World Excellence Awards are designed to recognise component suppliers who exceed Ford’s expectations and distinguish themselves from their peers by achieving the highest level of global excellence in quality, cost and delivery performance.

Fifty-one global supplier partners were honored at a special ceremony at Dearborn, Michigan, last week for their contributions to Ford Motor Company in 2013. Gold and silver awards were presented to supplier manufacturing sites that demonstrated superior quality, delivery and cost performance throughout 2013. Recognition of Achievement awards were given to suppliers who improved customer satisfaction by providing significant contributions in such key areas as new consumer-focused technology, durability and reliability performance, corporate responsibility, supplier diversity development and community service.

Comstar Automotive is the sole company from India to bag the award. Eighteen countries were represented at the annual awards.

Speaking at the occasion, Hau Thai-Tang, Group vice-president (Global Purchasing) said, “These suppliers have demonstrated the highest level of excellence, and we are honoured to have them as part of the One Ford team. Congratulations to the 2013 World Excellence Awards winners.”

Mark Fields, Ford’s chief operating officer, said: “Our suppliers are key to the success of our One Ford plan, including our commitment to accelerate our pace of progress and deliver even more of the great products and innovations that will create even more growth and define our company going forward.”

The award comes at a time when Comstar is engaged with Ford on critical global programs. Sat Mohan Gupta, CEO and president of Comstar Automotive, said that Comstar’s product road map is well aligned to Ford’s product and platform strategy, thereby providing optimum and timely solutions.

Comstar, a 100 percent export-oriented unit based near Chennai, provides stop-start starter and alternator solutions for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to global OEMs. It is the first company from India to provide stop-start starter motors to European OEMs and is jointly working with leading OEMs on application centered start-stop solutions to meet future emission targets in the European, North American, Chinese and Indian markets.

THE WINNERS LIST:
Gold (top 5 percent of qualifying suppliers)
• Autoliv, La Pobla de Vallbona, Valencia, Spain, side airbags
• Chaidneme, Gabriel de Venezuela, Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela, mufflers and exhaust
• Dee Zee, Des Moines, Iowa, running boards
• Diversified Service Technologies, Romulus, Mich., marketing and sales garage services
• EWI Worldwide, Livonia, Mich., auto shows, production
• Flex-N-Gate Seeburn, Beaverton, Ontario, Canada, door hinges and check arms
• Imagination, Dearborn, Mich., auto shows (creative)
• NHK Spring, Koka-gun, Shiga-ken, Japan, suspension stabilizer linkages
• Summit Plastics, Jiangning, Nanjing, China, instrument panel components
• U-Shin Europe, Komárom-Esztergom, Hungary, steering columns
• Valeo Electric and Electronic Systems, Czechowice-Dziedzice, Poland, starter assemblies
• Warn Industries, Milwaukie, Ore., axles
• Webasto Roof & Components, Schierling, Germany, sliding roofs

Silver (top 10 percent of qualifying suppliers)
• Arge, Cologne, Germany, total waste management, industrial cleaning services
• Aristeo Construction Company, Livonia, Mich., construction commodity management
• BorgWarner Automotive, Ochang-Eup, Chungwon-Gun, Korea, transfer cases
• Comstar Automotive Technologies, Maraimalai Nagar, Tamil Nadu, India, starter assemblies
• Dakkota Integrated Systems, Holt, Mich., headliners
• Dawson Manufacturing, Benton Harbor, Mich., body mounts
• F. Segura, Burjassot, Valencia, Spain, stampings
• FCC (Adams), Berne, Ind., clutch modules
• Flextronics Automotive, Coopersville, Mich., solenoids
• Hella Slovakia Signal-Lighting, Bánovce nad Bebravou, Slovakia, rear lamps
• Hill & Knowlton, London, United Kingdom, public relations
• Huf España, El Burgo de Osma, Soria, Spain, plastic door handles
• Iochpe-Maxion-Hayes Lemmerz, Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil, wheels
• Iturri, Sevilla, Spain, personal protection equipment
• Jack Cooper Transport, Kansas City, Mo., car haul transport
• Kostal Ukraina, Pereyaslav-Khmelnytsky, Ukraine, window switches
• LG Chem, Namchon-ri, Chungcheongbuk-Do, Korea, battery cells
• Mahle Engine Components, Morristown, Tenn., pistons
• Penske Logistics, Reading, Pa., lead logistics
• RB&W Manufacturing, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, fasteners
• ThyssenKrupp Presta, Ilsenburg, Germany, camshafts
• Tomkins-Gates Powertrain, Izmir, Turkey, FEAD systems
• Toro-Vibrac System, Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil, insulators
• Tower Automotive, Bellevue, Ohio, frames
• Trico Componentes, Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, wiper systems
• Walbridge, Detroit, Mich., major construction

Recognition of Achievement
• Dakkota Integrated Systems, Holt, Mich., supplier diversity development, Diverse Supplier of the Year
• Dayco Power Transmission, Contagem, São Paulo, Brazil, durability and reliability
• Dura Automotive Systems, Auburn Hills, Mich., community service
• Grupo Antolin, Burgos, Spain, aligned business framework principles
• Laird Technologies, London, United Kingdom, corporate responsibility
• Linamar Corporation, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, aligned business framework principles
• Maersk Line, Copenhagen, Denmark, corporate responsibility
• MSX International, Detroit, Mich., supplier diversity development, Corporation of the Year
• Stomil Sanok, Sanok, Poland, durability and reliability
• Stoneridge, Canton, Mass., new consumer-focused technology
• Summit Polymers, Portage, Mich., warranty improvement
• Visteon Planta Carolinas, Chihuahua, Mexico, new consumer-focused technology