ZF Designates 2011 Year of the Supplier

Being an international supplier of the automotive industry, ZF naturally depends upon competent and reliable sub-contractors. And the specialist for Driveline and Chassis Technology is indeed willing to pay for such premium requirements: material-related efforts accounted for more than EUR five billion last year. This is by far more than half of the Group's sales. This sum is split among many companies which are on ZF's suppliers list: Starting off with small family-owned companies via mid-sized enterprises up to global, major Groups with several thousand employees. Of these, more than 3,500 are currently supplying ZF with production materials, such as steel, aluminum, or plastics. Almost 10,000 suppliers are responsible for the so-called non-production materials, for example machines, tools, or also services rendered by carriers.

And indeed, figures speak for themselves: the importance attribute to materials management is immense. For this reason, the Group has declared 2011 the Year of the Supplier. It is one of our primary objectives to make it very clear to our employees how important this subject is for all of us! said Dr. Stefan Sommer, who, since October 2010, is ZF Executive Vice President for Materials Management. Consequently, the impact of this significant item on the company's operating profit is considerable: measured in relation to the purchasing volume vs. sales, the external added-value share is above 60 percent. Moreover, it is highly important to sensitize suppliers as well, namely, what kind of an impact their quality has on the competitiveness of ZF products, declared Dr. Sommer. Therefore, it is quite essential to involve ZF suppliers already during the product creation phase in the respective processes, and across the entire supply chain, it is vital to set up joint teams with supplier sub-representatives who ensure optimal processing of the supplies made. In this context, the departments from Quality, Development, Logistics, and Purchasing are closely cooperating.

Workshops and internal trade fairs are just as much part of the Year of the Supplier as the awarding ceremony for the ZF Global Supplier Awards – a distinct recognition of the best ZF suppliers worldwide. The campaign year commences with an international supplier day, which, most recently, took place in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Invited: approximately 300 representatives of the most important strategic suppliers of ZF; the objective: mutual exchange of experience and setting new targets for cooperation.