About 600 selected suppliers of the CLAAS Group recently attended the 7th Supplier's Day in Harsewinkel under the motto "Growing Challenges – Creating Innovative Solutions".
The highlight this year was once again the awards ceremony where Claas announced its "Supplier of the Year". The top prize went to an East-Westphalian company, Rippert Anlagentechnik in Herzebrock-Clarholz. Already, Rippert has installed environmentally-friendly high-performance painting and coating systems at two CLAAS locations - in Paderborn, Germany, and in Le Mans, France.
The Suppliers' Day was initiated by CLAAS seven years ago as a forum to promote ongoing collaboration with supplier partners. Helmut Claas welcomed the guests to the Technoparc and presented Rüdiger Mohr as the new Head of Corporate Purchasing.
Hans Lampert, CLAAS Group Executive Member with responsibility for Finance, Controlling and Business Administration, outlined the development of the CLAAS Group in the previous year. He emphasised that CLAAS performed well last year despite the financial crisis. "There is not only strength in our machines, but also in our balance sheet", he said.
This year's guest speaker was Klemens Kalverkamp, Managing Director of Landmaschinenfabrik Grimme near Osnabrück. He talked at length about the ever-increasing speed of innovation today. His message was: "Only with a strong culture of trust and cooperation can we realise our full potential for creativity and innovation".
Later during a guided tour of the plant, the participants saw at first hand how CLAAS machines are manufactured. They also had the opportunity to test drive a combine harvester, forage harvester or tractor around the test track at the Loermann Farm only a few kilometers from the CLAAS plant.
The day concluded with an Oscars-style awards ceremony where, in addition to unveiling Rippert as the overall winner, four other companies received Claas Supplier Awards. Rüdiger Mohr presented the awards in the categories of Quality, Logistics, Innovation and Service. He said: "These awards reflect the good collaboration with our suppliers. The results of this collaboration are the new products we can offer our customers."
Here are the winners of the Class Supplier Awards:
Quality:
- Kosel GmbH Werkzeugfabrik, Altshausen
The other nominees were:
- S&P Federnwerk GmbH & Co. KG, Herdorf
- Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Logistics:
- Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., Lippstadt
The other nominees were:
- Burag AG Metallwarenfabrik, Eschlikon, Switzerland
- Cofat, Tunis, Tunisia
Innovation:
- Preh GmbH, Bad Neustadt a. d. Saale
The other nominees were:
- Schmitt & Meissner GmbH, Sinsheim
- Budde Industrie Design GmbH, Münster
Service:
- Remondis GmbH & Co. KG, Bochum
The other nominees were:
- Rippert Anlagentechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Herzebrock-Clarholz
- United Parcel Service Deutschland Inc. & Co. OHG, Neuss
Overall winner:
Rippert Anlagentechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Herzebrock-Clarholz
