Ten suppliers of Daimler AG were honored with the Daimler Supplier Award 2014 for their excellent performance in the last financial year. In the presence of around 450 guests from the supplying industry the popular prizes were awarded at the Mercedes Benz center in Stuttgart for the seventh time. And for the first time, there were three nominees for each category.

Once a year the Daimler Supplier Award is given to companies for their outstanding performance. In collaboration with their direct suppliers, the company follows the cooperation model, the Daimler Supplier Network. This model stands for performance and partnership. Performance is measured by quality, costs, reliability and innovation. The partnership between Daimler and their suppliers is based on trust and open communication. This also involves the compliance with sustainable business practices providing incentives for the entire supplier basis in order to further strengthen presence in existing as well as in new markets. In his welcome address, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, underscored the special importance of the close collaboration between Daimler and their suppliers: “2014 has been the best year in the history of our enterprise and our suppliers made a significant contribution to this success. With the Daimler Supplier Award we want to say thank you for excellent quality, top performance and innovation power – in short: great partnership-based collaboration!”

The trophy which was created by the Daimler designers was handed over by the  members of the Supervisory Board and the Heads of Purchasing of Daimler AG: Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, CEO Daimler Trucks & Buses, Wilfried Porth, CEO HR and Director of Labor Relations, IT & Mercedes Benz Vans, Dr. Klaus Zehender, Member of the Division Board of Mercedes Benz Cars, Dr. Marcus Schoenenberg, Head of Global Procurement Trucks & Buses as well as Wendelin Wolbert, Head of International Procurement Services. Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber, Member of the Board, Group Research and MBC Development handed over the “special award”.

Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard talked about the joint progress and underlined the importance of the close cooperation between the Daimler Group and their suppliers: “Especially when it comes to new technologies, we at Daimler always make the first step. Therefore, we need partners who see themselves as trailblazers as well, being prepared to look for new ways so that our trucks and buses become even more efficient and safer with  strongly networked structures.

Wilfried Porth pointed out that the close cooperation between Daimler and their suppliers is a major factor for success: “We thank our partners for their outstanding collaboration which is based on trust and mutual respect.”

Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber handed over the special award for the development of an efficient and high-quality online navigation and infotainment system for premium automobiles. The system involves features such as navigation, radio, phone, communication and multimedia applications as well as intuitive options for different vehicle functions. “In the future, the intelligent networking of our vehicles is one of the key topics of our research and development activities. This is why we need strong partners who are able to develop and manufacture innovative products of top quality on time. Such a partner is the supplier of navigation and infotainment-systems Mitsubishi Electric Corporation”, said Weber.

Gross & Perthun GmbH & Co. KG (category: partnership)
Awarded for excellent collaboration in the field of underbody protection materials.
Nominees: Yazaki Corporation; Hitachi Automotive Systems Steering, Ltd.
Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars and Supplier Quality