At its annual conference of global suppliers held in Mainz, Germany, Continental Automotive Systems of Frankfurt awarded one of its ten Supplier of the Year 2006 prizes to Feintool. This is one of the automotive industry's most coveted awards worldwide.
IMA Automation GmbH of Amberg, Germany, one of the Feintool Automation division's three assembly systems sites, was nominated for this sought-after prize owing to the outstanding dedication it showed in developing, building and commissioning a complex assembly line. Used for the fully automated manufacture of a drive-train assembly at the Nuremberg facility of Continental Automotive Systems, this assembly line was also the largest single order ever placed with IMA Automation.
On behalf of Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann (head of Continental Automotive Systems and member of the Executive Board of Continental AG) and Samir Salman (head of Purchasing at Continental Automotive Systems), Erik Brandau - who is in charge of Indirect Material Purchasing at Continental Automotive Systems - handed over the prize to IMA Automation's managing director Peter Grosse in the presence of Feintool division head Norbert Müller. "We are awarding the prize not only in recognition of IMA Automation's overall entrepreneurial performance over the past year but also as an incentive to pursue and accomplish joint projects in the years to come", said Brandau.
Complex assembly plant worth about CHF 15 million commissioned on time
IMA Automation has once again proven its simultaneous engineering skills with the successful completion of a major order for a key account customer in the automotive industry. The order for this assembly line for drive components took around two years to complete. When the order was originally negotiated, development work on both the product and the assembly line was still in progress.
Both sides continued their development work in parallel, working to ensure that the product to be assembled could be launched on schedule. Nine months after the order was received, the new assembly line was installed and commissioned at the customer's premises. The first step was to produce C samples for testing in the vehicle prototype. This was followed by modification of the assembly by the customer, which entailed adjustment of the assembly line. The next step was the production of a second generation of product samples for testing, leading to final acceptance and the start of serial production. During the first phase of series production, IMA specialists provided support and training for the customer's production operatives.
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For further information, please contact:
Norbert Müller, Head of Automation
Phone +41 (0)44 953 13 00
Feintool is a leading technology and systems provider in fineblanking/forming and assembly automation. It is also a global supplier of metal and plastic components.
Feintool operates throughout the world at the company's own facilities in Switzerland (head office in Lyss), Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain, the United States, Japan, China and Thailand, where around 1800 employees are committed to customer satisfaction.
Feintool International Holding
Industriering 8, CH-3250 Lyss
Phone +41 (0)32 387 51 11
Fax +41 (0)32 387 57 81
Head of Corporate Communications
Urs Feitknecht
Phone +41 (0)32 387 51 63
Fax +41 (0)32 387 54 16
Mobile 079 204 41 13
The media release can be downloaded from the following link:
