21.02.2014
"What drives us to stay ahead"
With the "Wilo Group Suppliers' Day 2014" the Dortmund-based pump expert WILO SE has celebrated a first: for two days, from the 11th to the 12th of February, 2014, the company focused on its more than 2300 suppliers worldwide. On the agenda for the 320 guests invited to the Conference Centre at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund was an awards ceremony to announce the four best international suppliers, as well as presentations, plant tours and workshops. Among the VIP guests at the event were many executive board members and CEOs of some the most important top international suppliers.
Four awards for global partners
The quality, reliability and innovative ability of Wilo's suppliers play a crucial role in the success of Wilo products and services. To honour the contributions of its best suppliers and partners worldwide, the Dortmund-based pump manufacturer has organised an event which will be taking place regularly, the "Wilo Group Suppliers' Day". At the premiere in the Conference Centre at the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, the French company Savoy Moulage won the award in the „Value Management“ area; the Volkert Metall- und Kunststofftechnik GmbH was given the "Quality Award"; and BTV Technologies GmbH, also from Germany, won the "Logistics Award". The American company Essex Europe SAS was the overall winner and was delighted to receive the "Excellence Award" from Oliver Hermes, CEO of Wilo. The supplier, with headquarters in France, manufactures high-tech cables and supplies Wilo primarily with complex copper wires. Essex Europe was named the overall winner due to its reliably high product quality and constructive solutions to optimising production costs at Wilo.
"What drives us to stay ahead"
Peter Hermann, Senior Vice President Group Purchasing & Supply Chain Management at Wilo gave a fascinating look into Wilo's purchasing strategy in his presentation "Strengthening Supplier Partnerships“. "The success of our products and services is very dependent on the contributions of our suppliers, especially in the areas of quality, cost, delivery reliability and technology. Thus we will continue to expand our partnerships with the most innovative and reliable suppliers in our global network," explained Peter Hermann. "Our goal is to significantly reduce the number of our suppliers by 2020, while continuing to grow," Hermann said further. Executive board members Eric Lachambre (COO), Dr. Markus Beukenberg (CTO) and Tobias Ketterle (CFO) talked about Wilo's further ambitions.
Premium Quality as highest priority
"We want to provide our customers with absolute premium quality now and in the future – this is our most important goal," said Peter Hermann, Senior Vice President Group Purchasing & Supply Chain Management at Wilo. "So we are very happy that we already have many competent suppliers who we can rely on. The „Wilo Group Suppliers’ Day 2014“ is intended to recognise how highly we value our global partners, who contribute daily to the success of the Wilo Group." With them, Wilo delivers more than 30,000 different products to its 60 sales offices around the world. To put this in perspective: this makes 4500 truckloads or 260,000 pallets, which piled on top of each other would be over 4 kilometres high. "Another goal when working together with suppliers is to achieve a win-win situation," Hermann explained. "We are interested in fair and reliable partnerships, which provide both sides with long-term growth opportunities. The Wilo Group Suppliers' Day is intended to emphasise this."
Interesting Workshops and Plant Tours
After the awards ceremony and the presentations on the first day, there were interesting workshops planned for the guests on the second day at the "Wilo Group Suppliers‘ Day 2014". In several groups, the participants worked together on different topics with specific contents such as "Purchasing," "Logistics," "Value analysis" or "Delivery quality." A tour of the plant at Wilo's Dortmund headquarters rounded off the day.