Continental honours its best suppliers and presents its first ever Innovation Award

June 21, 2013. Global supplier Continental’s Automotive Group has recognized its best suppliers in 2012, as part of an annual award. Based on a systematic annual appraisal of more than 900 strategic suppliers, the Group identifies those companies that have turned in an outstanding performance in the various material segments.

The 13 winners of the Automotive ‘Supplier of the Year 2012’ Awards were recently announced and received their awards at Continental’s International Purchasing Manager Meeting in Frankfurt, where 160 Continental Automotive purchasing managers from across the globe discussed supply-sector strategies. This year’s event also brought the first ever presentation of a special Innovation Award.

“As one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, we have a portfolio that includes intelligent technologies for key growth areas. Based on our components and systems, vehicles consume less and less energy, become ever safer, and today offer previously unattained levels of comfort and convenience. In all of these areas, the ongoing automotive evolution process will continue to pick up speed, not least in respect of the major development goal of automated driving,” said Continental Executive Board Member Helmut Matschi. “And as we strive to build on our technology leadership in the marketplace, we are dependent upon suppliers who can provide us with expert support. The Supplier Innovation Day that we staged for the first time in March 2012 was an important step down the road to strengthening our capacity for innovation. The new Innovation Award with which we now honour suppliers with exceptional innovative capabilities is a further step in this direction.”

To mark the initial presentation of the Innovation Award, not one but two companies were honored: Infineon and Texas Instruments. The Automotive Group’s third annual Quality Award went to the Rohm company. This special award is presented in alternate years to suppliers from the electronics and mechanical engineering sectors in recognition of outstanding performance in quality improvement.

Comprehensive appraisal system

In order to identify the winners of the annual Supplier of the Year Awards, every year Continental Automotive assesses its strategic suppliers against a list of criteria in the areas of quality, technology, logistics, costs, and purchasing terms and conditions. These awards are presented in five sectors: electronics, electro-mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering, investment and engineering services, and Division-specific services. The Continental Automotive Group is made up of three Divisions: Chassis & Safety, Powertrain, and Interior.

Broken down by sector, the winners of the Automotive Supplier of the Year 2012 Awards were as follows: Electronics: NXP (Discretes & Standard ICs), Osram (Interfaces, Voltage Regulators, Analog ICs & Opto), and Nippon Chemi-Con Corporation (Capacitors); Electro-mechanical Engineering: Omron (Relays) and ML&S (Electronic Manufacturing Services); Mechanical Engineering: Erdrich (Stamping), Ejot Holding (Fasteners), and LTH Castings (Castings). For Division-specific Services the Chassis & Safety Division honored VCST (Aluminum Extrusion and Machining), the Interior Division commended Hosiden (LCD), and the Powertrain Division paid tribute to Hirschvogel (Injectors, Forgings, Treatments). The awards for Investment and Engineering Services went to Bertrandt (Engineering Services) and Baumann (Assembly Production for Electronic Manufacturing). The Head of Purchasing at Continental Automotive, Günter Fella, underlined the fundamental importance of extensive and trusting collaboration with suppliers and the great strength of Continental’s supplier network. “Over recent years we have continuously improved our high standard of quality. And here the annual Supplier of the Year awards and the annual appraisals of supplier capabilities on which they are based played a key part. Today these awards are coveted tokens of appreciation throughout the industry, and as such they motivate our suppliers to deliver top-class performance.” In all, last year the Continental Automotive Group purchased raw materials, components and engineering support to the value of some €11.2 billion (Rs 87,304 crore) from over 4,000 suppliers worldwide.

Photograph: Continental Executive Board Member Helmut Matschi: "As we strive to build on our technology leadership in the marketplace, we are dependent upon suppliers who can provide us with expert support."