Continental presents 2019 Supplier of the Year awards to 12 vendors

German technology major Continental Automotive and Powertrain Technologies has been presenting ‘Supplier of the Year’ awards for particularly exemplary performance among their 900 strategic series suppliers. Since 2008, it has conducted an annual broad-based analysis to identify exceptional contributions in customer satisfaction and at all levels of quality, technology, commitment, costs and purchasing conditions.

Continental says that it can build on a strong, global network every year is becoming apparent in 2019, too: The Continental business areas Vehicle Networking and Information, Autonomous Mobility & Safety as well as Vitesco Technologies were supplied with around 140,000 part numbers at around 100 production sites worldwide, which is equivalent to a total volume of approximately 157 million components.

The awards ceremony this year took place on October 27, in a virtual ceremony, with a total of 12 suppliers being awarded with the prestigious prize.

Nikolai Setzer, member of the board of Continental AG and speaker on the Automotive board said: “In the fundamentally changing world of mobility, we set the standards together with our first-class suppliers. Thanks to close and trusting cooperation, cross-industry networking and our highest quality standards, together we can achieve greater efficiency and safety and thus satisfy the increasing demands of our customers even better.”

Günter Fella, head of purchasing at Continental Automotive said, “We can count on our suppliers both for the development of future technologies and for managing logistical challenges. This became evident in the critical phase of the coronavirus pandemic at the beginning of 2020. Throughout this time, we were able to carry out production without any supply shortages. Additionally, our suppliers overcome the challenges of increasingly complex systems and thus contribute to the success of the company. For this reason, every year it is a great honour for us to recognise the best suppliers of the year.”

Continental presents the Supplier of the Year Awards annually in the six areas of electronics, electromechanics, metal, plastics and rubber as well as division-specific solutions. The awarded suppliers for the year 2019 are:

• Electronics: Rohm Semiconductor (Discretes), Nippon Chemi-Con (Passives)
• Electromechanics: Wuxi Jewel Technology Co. Ltd. (Molded Inductive Components), Dynamic Electronics (Standard Printed Circuit Boards)
• Metal: Ferriere di Stabio (Forging Assemblies), Seiko Instruments (Turned Parts)
• Plastics and rubber: Ar-Tex Group (Rubber), Samtec (Connectors)
• Division-specific solutions of Vehicle Networking and Information: Fonderie Officine Pietro Pilenga (Aftermarket), Cetto Group (Decorative Plastic Parts)
• Division-specific solutions of Vitesco Technologies: Foryou Industries  (High Pressure Casting Aluminum), Industrias Teixido (Turned Parts)

In addition to the Supplier of the Year, Continental which has been awarding the special prize – the ‘Quality Award’ – since 2010 to companies for exceptional performance in the area of quality enhancement. With this, the technology company highlights their exceptionally high-quality standards. The 2019 Quality Award was given to Nichia Corporation, a manufacturer for LEDs, fluorescent material, Laser diodes, battery and coating materials.