Continental and Schaeffler have been co-operating in purchasing for four years. Both suppliers for automobile manufacturers and the 
industrial sector have now held their second joint Premium Supplier Day and invited 41 suppliers from 12 countries to Würzburg. These suppliers supply numerous Continental and Schaeffler locations worldwide.
Suppliers must meet high requirements in order to become premium suppliers. Continental and Schaeffler have a total of more than 1,200 strategic suppliers, of which 400 were selected and assessed according to a list of requirements with 10 criteria. The 41 suppliers gathered in Würzburg have managed to fulfill most of these criteria. Twelve of the companies were appointed as premium suppliers and are now included in the Premium Supplier Circle. The status of all the 19 existing premium suppliers was also confirmed.
Günter Fella, Senior Vice President (Purchasing) at Continental Automotive, and Oliver Jung, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer at Schaeffler, welcomed the premium suppliers. Both went into the current business status of their companies and emphasized the importance of the most vital new technologies. “The co-operation with the Premium Supplier Circle is the basis for successful industrialization of these technologies because the challenges of the future can be overcome with a good supplier structure”, said Günter Fella.
The purchasing co-operation between the two suppliers and the close collaboration with premium suppliers is a win-win situation for all the parties involved.
“Continental and Schaeffler have a joint purchasing volume of almost 15 billion euros this year. Our companies operate on the market as independent units, but the co-operation in purchasing enables us to use synergies and reduce costs. At the same time, the close collaboration with joint premium suppliers ensures we have a supplier base which fulfills our high requirements”, added Oliver Jung. “On the other hand, we are able to offer our premium suppliers disproportional growth potential by concentrating on the Premium Supplier Circle, which we want to expand to 200 suppliers in the long term.”
The 12 premium suppliers newly appointed by Continental and Schaeffler are Berger Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Memmingen (Germany), DSM Deutschland GmbH, Heerlen (Netherlands), Ejot Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Bad Berleburg (Deutschland), Erdrich Umformtechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Renchen-Ulm (Germany), Ergotech S.R.L., Settimo Vittone (Italy), Gibbs Die Casting Corporation, Henderson (USA), Hutchinson GmbH, Mannheim (Germany), Perrotton S.A., Bonneville (France), Stettler Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Burgwindheim (Germany), Suzhou Fine Blanking & Tool Co. Ltd., Suzhou (China), Tontec International Ltd., Kowloon (Hong Kong), and Sinnotech (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Suzhou (China).