2001 Quest for Excellence: The industry's ballots are in and the best of the best suppliers have been chosen

Automotive Industries, Nov, 2001 by Andrew Cummins

The pursuit of excellence is a constant endeavor for those who participate in the very competitive automotive marketplace. Thus, it is with great pleasure that Automotive Industries has the singular honor of announcing the winners of the 2001 Quest of Excellence survey.

To be ranked by one's customer as the "best of the best" is quite an achievement and one not to be taken lightly. How many of us wish that our customers held us in such high esteem that they would take the time to complete a lengthy survey to ensure we got the recognition we so richly deserve?

AI clearly recognizes the outstanding job suppliers do in creating high-quality, just-in-time and value-added products that keep our vehicles on the road year after year. As suppliers are asked by OEMs to assume greater responsibility for reliability and durability, the highest standards of excellence in engineering, product development and manufacturing are essential.

Utilizing the latest in technological research methodology, Automotive Industries contracted the services of Mecator Corp. to provide software that would allow us to conduct the entire survey via the Internet. Not only were we able to receive the data in useable form, we also generated a greater response rate than in previous years.

Our circulation list provided us with those, OEM readers who personally review, recommend, specify, approve or purchase products in the 30 industry classification used for the survey. Thirty different surveys were created and he survey samples were specific to those categories. Only OEM personnel were included in the survey.

Respondents were asked to nominate up to three supplier companies and rank them in five categories: A score of five, outstanding, means that the supplier significantly exceeds the OEMs standards for acceptable performance; a score of four, above average, indicates that the supplier exceeds the standards of acceptable performance; a score of three, average, says that the vendor meets the standards of acceptable performance, a poorer score of two, below average, indicates that that supplier falls below the OEMs standards of acceptable performance, and a score of one, poor, says that the supplier significantly falls below acceptable standards of performance.

These rankings were then applied to five critical metrics of excellence quality, price, delivery, service/response and innovation.

All surveys were electronically tabulated and the results were ranked in declining order. Once the results were verified, the top three winners in each category were selected as gold, silver, or bronze winners -- gold being first place and bronze being third. In the case of a tie in any category, dual acknowledgement was awarded.

The results of the survey are not the opinion of Automotive Industries or any of our staff. We asked our readers to make their selection based on their own experiences with the individual supplier companies.

Those suppliers who rank the highest in the five areas of quality, price, delivery, service/response and innovation deserve to be ranked among the best of the best and to receive the coveted Quest for Excellence award. All of us at AI are proud to honor the following companies with this prestigious award and congratulate them on their continuous quest to be the best of the best.

RELATED ARTICLE: 2001 QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE WINNERS

AUDIO SYSTEMS

Harman International Bose Corp.

@ Visteon Automotive Systems

AXLES & COMPONENTS

Dana

Visteon Automotive Systems

@ ArvinMeritor

BODY & STRUCTURAL

Tower Automotive

@ The Budd Company

@ Meridian Automotive Systems

BRAKE SYSTEMS

Robert Bosch Corp.

TRW

@ * Continental Teves

@ * MGM Brakes

CAD/CAE HARDWARE-SOFTWARE

EDS PLM Solutions (SDRC)

Sun Microsystems

@ Autodesk

DOOR SYSTEMS - SUNROOFS

Webasto AG

Brose Fahrzeugteile GmbH & Co.

@ ArvinMeritor

ENGINE & COMPONENTS

Burlington Technologies

Siemens Automotive Corp.

@ Metaldyne (Masco Tech)

EXHAUST SYSTEMS

ArvinMeritor

* Tenneco Automotive

* OMG

@ * Engelhard

@ * Faurecia

FASTENERS & ADHESIVES

Loctite Corp.

3M

@ Textron Automotive

FERROUS METALS

@ Ispat Inland Inc.

@ Corus

@ North Star Steel

NON-FERROUS

Alcoa Hydro Magnesium

@ Kaiser Aluminum Corp.

FUEL DELIVERY

Robert Bosch Corp.

Visteon Automotive Systems

@ TI Automotive

HEATING, VENTILATION, AIR COND.

Visteon Automotive Systems

DENSO International

@ Delphi Automotive Systems

INSTRUMENT PANELS - CONSOLES

Textron Automotive

Johnson Controls Inc.

@ Visteon Automotive Systems

INSTRUMENTATION

Hewlett-Packard

Yazaki

@ Visteon Automotive Systems

INTERIOR TRIM

Lear Corp.

PPG Industries

@ Visteon Automotive Systems

LIGHTING SYSTEM

Donnelly Corp.

Hella North America

@ * Osram Sylvania

@ * Guide Corp.

NAVIGATION SYSTEMS

Visteon Automotive Systems

Robert Bosch Corp.

@ Johnson Controls Inc.

PAINT

PPG Industries

DuPont

@ Red Spot Paint & Varnish Co.

PLASTICS COMPOSITES - COMPONENTS

DuPont

* Decoma International Inc.

* PPG Industries

@ * GE Plastics

@ * Phillips Plastics Corp.

PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT

ABB Robotics

Haas Automation Inc.

@ * Komatsu America Industries

@ * Phillips Plastics Corp.

SAFETY SYSTEMS

Autoliv North America