ZF honours seven global suppliers for focus on sustainability

ZF has honoured seven of its global suppliers for their excellent performance. The ZF Supplier Awards are presented as part of the Group-wide Global Supplier Summit, which this year focuses primarily on sustainability.

At the virtual conference, around 1,000 participants from all over the world gained an insight into the technology group's corporate strategy, new technologies and the resulting new requirements and challenges relating to purchasing and logistics.

"With a purchasing volume of around €26 billion, more than 3,000 employees and a global network of 36,000 strong, innovative suppliers, ZF Materials Management is a key lever for our corporate success," said ZF Board of Management member Stephan von Schuckmann.

The company's goal of being climate-neutral by 2040 affects the entire value chain. Sustainability and technology leadership are closely interlinked. "We record emissions from start to finish - from those of our suppliers and logistics through to the use phase of our products in vehicles and technical systems," emphasized von Schuckmann. This is because indirect emissions from the supply chain account for almost a quarter of all relevant greenhouse gases.

The seven winners

The winner in the Sustainability category is Val Giovanni from Torino, Italy. The strategic supplier of gears and shafts for the ZF Commercial Vehicle Solutions division impressed the jury with its strong commitment to decarbonization, for example through the use of energy from renewable sources or the use of environmentally friendly electric systems. Val Giovanni is also committed to supporting and financing rehabilitation and social inclusion projects for children and young people with autism and disabilities.

The global logistics service provider JAS receives the Supplier Performance Award in the Digitalization category. JAS currently covers more than 100 countries with its offices and official representatives and is the most important sea freight forwarder for ZF. Among other things, the standardized process for digital container ordering received an award.

The Taiwanese Lemtech Group, one of the leading metal stamping specialists and suppliers of precision pressing tools, received another Performance Award in the Operational and Functional Excellence category. The award recognizes, for example, the company's extensive technical expertise, global presence and cost leadership.

Four award-winning innovations

ZF presented a total of four Innovation Awards this year. The winner in the Vehicle Motion Control technology field is the German branch of the US simulation software provider Ansys. Its products help the ZF Electronics and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) division to reduce costs for product validation tests and optimize development performance by up to 40 percent, among other things.

The Supplier Innovation Award in the Electromobility category goes to Magnet-Schultz, a specialist for electromagnetic solutions in the capital goods and automotive industry headquartered in Memmingen, Germany. For the jury, the safety-relevant and cost-efficient solution for a parking lock valve sensor unit that the company supplies to ZF has a benchmark character.

Minieye, a leading developer of solutions for autonomous driving from Shenzen, China, receives the Supplier Innovation Award in the Integrated Safety category. The supplier's camera- and radar-based assistance system increases the safety of commercial vehicles.

The Swedish company Hexagon wins the Supplier Innovation Award in the Automated Driving category. The software company, headquartered in Stockholm, receives the award for its satellite-based technology to increase lane accuracy in vehicles with driver assistance systems.

"Sustainable action is a task for society as a whole that concerns us all. We must pull together along the entire supply chain in order to achieve our ambitious goals," emphasized Daniele Pontarollo, Head of Group-wide Materials Management at the technology company. "The winners of this year's Supplier Awards are impressive proof that we are on the right track with this strategy."

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