Whirlpool EMEA held its annual Supplier Day event in Varese (Italy) on November 22, 2016, where the best suppliers in terms of quality performances and capabilities in 2015 have been awarded.
Supplier Quality Award in Whirlpool is a global and structured process to identify and recognize few selected Companies delivering outstanding Quality performances to Whirlpool plants and in the market.
Winners were chosen in the following three categories:
Strategic Commodities: Copreci Czech Republic (Pumps for washing & dishwashing), Iskra DD (Capacitors and other electromechanical parts)
Basic Technologies: Cellublok srl (Counterweights for washing machines), Espansi One (EPS parts for cooking & refrigeration)
Raw Materials: BASF Ag (Chemicals), Voestalpine (Steel)
Whirlpool’s commitment to Top Quality in all its processes and products is a mindset that goes beyond pure performance.
“Up or out is our way to foster continuous seek of excellence and constant improvement in everything we do with our strategic partners. Our mantra is not a negotiable value.” said Alessandro Lombardi, Vice President Procurement and Cost Leadership Whirlpool EMEA. “Feeding a winning partnership with all our suppliers across the EMEA Region is a strong daily challenge, but for Whirlpool Corporation each supplier is unique and deserves special care.”
Copreci is a global company with more than 50 years of experience in the home appliance components business. With 7 manufacturing locations in different countries and more than 2.000 employees, Copreci provides gas regulation elements for the cooking business and pumps for laundry and dish care businesses.
“It is an honor for Copreci to be considered as a strategic supplier for one of the leading companies in the household appliance industry. Whirlpool’s high standards and competitiveness inspire us in our daily work. Our technical competencies and international manufacturing footprint together with our client-oriented culture, with a strong focus on their satisfaction, are the pillars of our relationship with Whirlpool. A relationship that we try to update and improve with increasing added value products and projects.”, said Javier Calvotxeaga, Pump & Motors Business Unit Director
Iskra is a global provider of industrial solutions and electrotechnical products. It is the largest Slovenian company in the fields of process automation, communications and security systems for power distribution, transmission, networking, powerline communications, railway and road traffic and software solutions in the field of energy sector and logistics. With over 70 years of experience with the most demanding industrial projects, Iskra today comprises a unique combination of comprehensive engineering knowledge, innovative cutting edge technologies and outstanding business excellence that enable them to globally provide and deploy a broad range of effective solutions, tailored to fit customers’ needs.
“On behalf of Iskra, and all of us working at Iskra we are very pleased to receive this award. It is an acknowledgement for our work every day and our quest for excellence and superior quality. But more than that, it is a motivation and our obligation to exceed all expectations in terms of quality at every level of the company.”, said Matija Šešok, CEO of Iskra.
CELLUBLOK Srl, has been built in 1981, and its main production is handmade products in cement and in particular counterweights for washing machines, dishwashers, and cookers. The counterweight production for washing machines and dishwashers is done with high technology machineries and with skilled technicians who works in the internal laboratory of the company. CELLUBLOK invests a lot in the research of new materials and technologies in order to realize product with even more with high-quality standard. For this reason its customers are the main industries of the white goods sector. With its logistic organization, it can supply its products everywhere in Italy and also in Europe and other countries.
“With great pleasure we attended the Whirlpool supplier day and we have been honored to be awarded with this recognition. The quality of our products is the result of our commitment but above all of our solid partnership with a leading customer in the sector, Whirlpool, that allowed us to carry on and develop a company project with high quality standards. The award is an incentive, an encouragement to improve even more and have more and more satisfied customers.”, said Salvatore Amitrano, Co-founder CELLUBLOK.
ICSS Packaging Group is an Italian premier supplier of custom designed cushioning products, materials handling systems and specialty components in expanded polystyrene (EPS). A family business since 1969, ICSS has been supplying Whirlpool in Northern Italy with EPS packaging for almost 50 years. Today we produce inside Cassinetta (Italy) with a co-located plant as we do in Yate (UK). Whirlpool Manisa (Turkey) site is supplied from an external ICSS plant, nearly located.
“Being a strategic Whirlpool supplier, since the very early days back in the ‘60s, has always been a great responsibility for us all. We know well that there is always space for improvement, no matter how long you’ve been in the business. It has been an unbelievable honor for my Team to receive the Whirlpool Quality Award 2016: we will consider it not just an incredible achievement, but the starting point for all our future activities. Winning the Quality Award, in fact, is a great success, but wanting to win it again is now even more important”, said Paolo Garbagna, ICSS Group CEO.
BASF Polyurethanes is the leading supplier of polyurethane basic products, systems and specialties. With a market-oriented focus, they develop, produce, and supply performance materials – a general term for engineering plastics and polyurethanes. In 2015, over 1,500 employees in Lemförde (Germany) achieved a turnover of more than 2.2 billion euros. Key drivers of profitability and growth are close collaboration with customers and a clear focus on solutions.
“It is an honor for us to receive this award. It recognizes the great collaboration we have and showcases the value we bring to Whirlpool. This award is a confirmation of our strategy to focus on customer dialogue as well as on a portfolio of products with proven quality and continuous optimization.” said Giuseppe La Spina, BASF Key Account Manager.
Voestalpine is a globally leading technology and capital goods group with a unique combination of material and processing expertise. With its top-quality products and system solutions using steel and other metals, it is one of the leading partners to the automotive and consumer goods industries in Europe and to the oil and gas industries worldwide.
“As a Voestalpine manager who has followed this partnership since the very beginning 37 years ago, I am very proud of our team and extremely thankful to Whirlpool for this award. We will continue to put our best efforts into maintaining this level of quality, service, and partnership in the future”, said Walter Buttinger, MD COIL PRODUCTS.