Schaeffler’s employees are the key to top quality. That is why the Volkswagen Group Award was presented to them by Matthias Zink (first row, fourth from the right), Senior Vice President Transmission Systems, and Trudbert Kraus (first row, at left), Director of Operations Transmission Systems at the Schaeffler location in Bühl/Germany. No matter which continent or which product: Customers value the consistently high quality of Schaeffler products around the globe. More and more awards by customers prove this and show: Schaeffler is getting even better. Schaeffler’s top quality products have convinced customers worldwide – and it is getting better all the time. This has been demonstrated by 43 quality awards presented by customers of this supplier to the automotive and manufacturing industry. In 2016, the company received more awards from all over the world than ever before: In North America, for instance, Schaeffler received an award by Nissan for “top quality” in engine systems. So far, Schaeffler has supplied Nissan with more than 24 million parts from its plant in Cheraw (U.S.) – without a single defective part. From GM, Schaeffler has received a total of 13 “GM Quality Excellence Awards” worldwide for outstanding quality. Plants presented with awards included Chevilly, Elfershausen, Haguenau and Taicang for meeting or even exceeding GM’s very stringent quality criteria. The “Volkswagen Group Award” was given to Schaeffler by Volkswagen in Germany for its overall performance with regard to product quality, innovation, development expertise, sustainability and professional project management. The Schaeffler plant in Puebla, Mexico, won the VW “Zero Defect Strategy Award.” Danfoss A/S from Denmark, manufacturer of units for hydraulic, drive, refrigeration and heating technology, presented Schaeffler with the “Quality Supplier Award 2015.” Schaeffler supplied 3.3 million parts to Danfoss from more than 20 plants around the globe. In Asia/Pacific, Schaeffler Bearings Indonesia was awarded Nissan’s “Best Quality and Time Delivery Performance 2015” certificate. This award is only given to suppliers that provide outstanding quality and demonstrate excellent delivery performance. In Pune (India), Schaeffler has repeatedly received Toyota’s “Zero PPM Award” for top quality (“Zero Parts Per Million” refers to zero defects in a million parts). In China, Schaeffler recently received a large number of quality awards. Among others, Schaeffler’s quality was rewarded with the “Excellent Supplier Award” by Dongfeng Yueda Kia Motor Co., Ltd. for zero defects in a million products. Better and better – in spite of huge volumes and increasing requirements All of these awards are even more impressive given the large number of products supplied by the company every year. In 75 plants around the world, Schaeffler produces around 60,000 automotive and 90,000 industrial products in large volumes. In 2016, the company sold more than 7.1 billion products. At the same time, the complexity of Schaeffler products has been increasing – from bearings to mechatronic systems such as the active roll control system. This requires better and better quality management. “In spite of increasing customer requirements for product safety and the ever growing complexity of its products, Schaeffler has not only dealt well with these quality challenges but done better than ever before,“ explains Walter Süß, Senior Vice President Corporate Quality. Employees are the key to top quality One of the keys to Schaeffler’s high and further improving quality is the continuous qualification and motivation of its employees. “We regard quality as a commitment that involves every single employee in their day-to-day work. Worldwide, we have a strict zero-defect goal in each plant, each department and each office,“ says Walter Süß. Quality management is supported by internal programs such as “Fit for Quality” program. One of the features of this program is to reward departments and employees that work without any mistakes for more than four years. In addition, all Schaeffler plants around the world have all of the relevant ISO certifications and are audited on a regular basis.