Growing Together - Creating Value

This year's best CLAAS supplier was once again a local company. The winner of the top prize was the Bernhard Ellebracht GmbH from Sassenberg in the Münsterland region, just a few kilometres away from CLAAS headquarters in Harsewinkel. The company has performed brilliantly and very consistently for years and supplies CLAAS with welded components, stamped parts and formed parts.

Hans Lampert, Member of CLAAS Group Management responsible for Finance, Controlling and Administration, along with Head of Purchasing Rüdiger Mohr welcomed our 600 supplier partners to the company's Technoparc in Harsewinkel. "In 2011, CLAAS achieved the best result in the company's history", said Hans Lampert. "As suppliers, you also made a contribution to this success." He added that CLAAS would continue on this successful path in the current financial year.

Group Manager Jan-Hendrik Mohr explained how the CLAAS sales network was being developed worldwide.

Rüdiger Mohr emphasized the role of suppliers for CLAAS. He explained that alongside the distribution network and the company's own production network, the global network of suppliers made a massive contribution to new CLAAS products and thus to the successes the company has achieved.

Guest speaker at the event was Joe Sandor, a Professor at Michigan State University (USA), who previously worked as Head of Purchasing at the American consumer products manufacturer Sara Lee with over 40,000 employees. In his interesting speech, he underlined the importance of a company's relationships with its suppliers. Customers who pay close attention to their relationships with suppliers can expect preferential treatment when it comes to pricing and the development of innovative products.

During the award ceremony, four other companies were awarded CLAAS supplier prizes alongside overall winner Ellebracht. Rüdiger Mohr presented the prizes in the categories of Quality, Logistics, Innovation and Service.The day ended with a tour of the CLAAS Parts Logistics Center located in Hamm-Uentrop on the A2 motorway, which has undergone major expansion in recent years. During the tour, the Suppliers' Day visitors learned how CLAAS is able to reliably and quickly supply its customers all over the world with spare parts.

The best CLAAS suppliers take centre stage: Group Manager Hans Lampert (second from right) and Head of Purchasing Rüdiger Mohr (right) congratulate the winners.

An overview of the winners in all categories:

Quality:

Nominated:

Winner: S&P Federnwerk GmbH & Co. KG, Herdorf (spring supplier)

Logistics:

Nominated:

Winner: FIEGE Stiftung & Co. KG, Greven (logistics service provider for end-of-production spare parts supply for engines, Just-in-Sequence delivery of engines)

Innovation:

Nominated:

Winner: Mitas a.s., Prague, Czech Republic (tyre supplier)

Service:

Nominated:

Winner: TOTAL Lubrifiants, Nanterre, France (supplier of lubricants, oils)

Overall winner:

Bernhard Ellebracht GmbH, Sassenberg (supplier of welded components, stamped parts and formed parts)