JLR honours 16 companies in global supply chain with excellence awards

For the seventh year, JLR has celebrated the outstanding achievements of its global supply chain at the annual Supplier Excellence Awards. The winners were recognised for their extraordinary contribution to JLR’s business, cost transformation and operational delivery over the course of the last year.

JLR celebrated the outstanding achievements of its global supply chain on Tuesday (May 30), which took place at The Grove, Hertfordshire.

This year, the Supplier Excellence Awards were based on the recently introduced Creators’ Code values at JLR. JLR’s purpose is to 'Live the Exceptional with Soul' by being the proud creators of modern luxury and an integral part of this is being guided by a set of behaviours that they call their Creators' Code: Customer Love; Unity; Integrity; Growth; Impact. This year the team used these five core values to award their top performing suppliers.

Customer Love rewards suppliers who demonstrate real care for clients. Unity rewards suppliers who truly demonstrate that they work as one team. Integrity rewards suppliers who build trust by speaking openly and honestly, always treating others with respect. Growth rewards those who ensure they progress together by taking initiatives and giving honest feedback, and finally Impact rewards those who truly make a difference. The values are the cornerstones of the awards for 2023.

Tobias Moch, JLR Chief Procurement Officer, commented: “A great business relationship is crucial to our success, and the relationship with our suppliers is based on performance as well as integrity, honesty and trust. Last night was all about celebrating our very best suppliers and thanking them for their hard work and commitment over the past year. I know how difficult the past 12 months have been. The teams have had to work very hard to keep our factories running, in the face of severe disruptions to the global supply chain. A big thank you to everyone involved for their massive efforts during this difficult period.”

'CUSTOMER LOVE'

CAEA: This is the sole China indigenous supplier ever to triumph in the category. Wins award after extraordinary contributions to deliver key business outcomes to JLR including their ‘one team’ mindset to offer consistent and efficient support.

ADI: For going above and beyond to secure supply against the most profitable JLR vehicles during the semi-conductor crisis. Since the outset of the crisis, ADI has made exceptional efforts to mitigate against supply chain shortages and potential line stops. The impact of these efforts is that JLR has not lost a vehicle due to ADI supply issues.

Amazon: A winner for doing whatever it takes for the best end-customer experience. Amazon engages with all functions across JLR from Engineering, Design, Marketing, PR, Commercial to deliver best-in-class products.

'UNITY'

SoftCat & Amazon Web Services (two awards): Amazon Web Services invest in technology and innovation to deliver competitive and differentiated products and services – both suppliers focus heavily on technology and digital innovation, and focus on innovative ways to work with JLR, sharing what they see within the market, what other customers are benefitting from and how best to adapt to JLR’s needs.

Roland Berger:  The Roland Berger team delivered excellent outcomes throughout their engagement with JLR in support of semi-conductor CRC and long-term supplier agreement.

Denso: It supplies a variety of climate system solutions to JLR and its focus on quality and continuous Improvement is of particular note. Denso’s manufacturing plant in Telford (DMUK) has an outstanding ‘Parts per Million’ (PPM) record, and every individual at the plant, irrespective of grade or responsibility, strives every day to produce a product that will delight the end customer.

'INTEGRITY'

Horiba and MIRA: Horiba has supported JLR’s product development and certification of their vehicles for over 35 years and their ate-of-the-art analytical equipment is backed up with best-in-class aftersales support.

MIRA, part of Horiba since 2015, are a trusted and valued partner to JLR engineering test teams, and always excel in supporting the bespoke test needs for the unique vehicles developed by Land Rover and Jaguar. The engineering team commend MIRA on their flexibility and for improving the efficiency of the test programmes.

Pirelli Tyres UK: Pirelli is constantly collaborating with JLR to ensure the best working relationship possible. Pirelli also has an exceptionally strong sustainability portfolio that it will look to utilise in the product offerings to help JLR in the journey towards becoming a leader in sustainability through net zero carbon emissions. 

'GROWTH'

Johnson Matthey: Johnson Matthey’s customer support continues to improve and evolve. They have created a dedicated JLR customer account team to better understand customer trends, needs and wants and to continuously improve communication standards and processes.

DFDS: Over an incredibly challenging time, DFDS did a fantastic job at transporting finished vehicles. It achieved 100% on-time delivery, despite the volatility of the market and the problems caused by unstable supply. The company supported a dual-shipping solution to relieve port congestion that was affecting supply and they opened a new rail hub into the Port of Cuxhaven in Germany to mitigate the impact of European rail network disruption. They also helped relieve bottlenecks getting vehicles out of JLR’s Nitra plant in Slovakia.

Automotive Trim Development: ATD has exemplified the creator’s code principle with a focus in two key areas: Unity and Growth.  They treated JLR as a partner, working very closely with engineering, purchasing, launch manufacturing and logistics to resolve issues proactively and quickly. They worked closely with tier 2 suppliers, many of them much larger than ATD. They found common ground to resolve problems and move forward in a collaborative fashion.

'IM[PACT'

Adient: A world leader in automotive seating, Adient in Brazil has been supplying JLR’s operations there since its Brazilian factory opened in 2016. It was the first supplier in Brazil to achieve the JLRQ Award, for outstanding quality, in 2018.

Over the past year, Adient took responsibility for managing the semi-conductor crisis and Ukraine Tier 2 supplier issues, working closely with JLR Brazil to track the risks and avoid any disruption to supply. Seats are complex and Adient are absolute experts, making a big difference to the final quality of JLR vehicles.

LG Innotek: LG Innotek hugely supports the JLR Product Development teams, continuously improving their products and, in turn, improving JLR’s.

Alten: This company played a key part in developing new more sustainable technologies, across all energy storage devices, including new high voltage batteries, in which Alten has extensive experience.

A highly skilled team of three engineers, managed by an Alten project leader, have successfully led projects, engaged with other suppliers, and dealt with all JLR stakeholders – including Engineering, Finance, Procurement, Cost Engineering and Manufacturing. They have made a significant contribution and will have a big Impact on future JLR vehicles.

Voestalpine Automotive Components: The renowned supplier of high strength body panels made from lightweight steel and since working with JLR has shown outstanding work at its automotive components factory in the Netherlands. Their quality is exceptional, and they always meet or better time targets.