Tognum awards accolade to best suppliers

• Supplier Awards in the categories “raw parts”, “finished parts” and “most promising supplier”
• 250 "target" suppliers from all over the world came to suppliers day

Friedrichshafen, 10 May 2010. At the beginning of May in Friedrichshafen, Tognum, the specialist for propulsion and power solutions, distributed Supplier Awards for the year 2009 to its most outstanding suppliers. “Long-term cooperation with the best-performing firms is essential to the overall success of the Tognum Group“, emphasizes Dr. Ulrich Dohle, Tognum-CTO for “Technology & Operations”. “We give this award to suppliers who have set standards for us in cost and quality optimization in 2009”.

Swiss company Trafag delivers electronic components and received the title of best supplier in the “finished parts” category. Erla iron works furnishes the gas pipes and turbocharger turbine housings used in various mtu engine series and was designated best supplier in the “raw parts” category. Oil pump supplier Rickmeier, having made the most outstanding progress in improving its performance in all areas, particularly in quality and logistics, earned the title of most promising supplier in 2009. During the awards ceremony, head of purchasing Erik Manning commended the suppliers for their excellent achievements.

The key criteria in evaluation are not only product prices. Quality is of primary importance, as is punctual delivery. As the company’s global production network expands, so does the need for global suppliers. That means, for example, that Tognum works together with local suppliers in Suzhou in China or Aiken in the US to react as flexibly as possible to customer demand. In response to the economic crisis last year, Tognum regularly reviewed the financial stability of cash-poor suppliers or those threatened by insolvency in order to keep the default risk to itself to a minimum. On top of these measures, the purchasing department works to reduce material costs on an ongoing basis.

The winners in 2009 were selected from a total of around 1,300 suppliers, including those with whom Tognum subsidiaries such as L’Orange or MTU Detroit Diesel also place orders. 250 "target" suppliers were invited to Friedrichshafen for Suppliers’ Day. These were the suppliers with whom the Group processed around 80 percent of its purchase volume in 2009. During the two-day function, they were provided with up-to-date information on the Group’s new products, on the increasing globalization of the production network, on current sales projects and on quality assurance management. Other themes on the agenda were logistics and how to mutually enhance competitiveness.