DENSO's quality is recognized with awards

J.D. Power and Associates Chairman's Award

Monday, March 25 was a first - for DENSO and for J.D. Power and Associates, a global marketing information services firm. March 25 marked only the ninth time in 34 years the J.D. Power and Associates prestigious Chairman's Award was given, and the first time it was given to a supplier.The supplier was DENSO Corporation.

Why was DENSO so honored? Simple. Our commitment to quality.

"This award recognizes DENSO's dedication to providing consistent high quality systems and components to automotive manufacturers, exemplified by its noteworthy performance in numerous J.D. Power and Associates studies," said J.D. Power III, chairman and founder of J.D. Power and Associates, as he presented the Chairman's Award to DENSO Corporation President Hiromu Okabe. "In all the years J.D. Power and Associates has been surveying automotive product quality, the quality process is the key to success. DENSO has excelled in providing this continuous improvement process, establishing their systems and components as the benchmark of excellence."

DENSO joins an esteemed group of recipients that includes General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company/UAW, and Hiroshi Okuda, Toyota Motor Corporation chairman.

As Okabe accepted the award, presented at the New York Stock Exchange, he acknowledged the hard work of all DENSO associates, past and present, in getting to this point.

"From the beginning, all DENSO business decisions have been focused on providing high quality products for all of our customers," Okabe stated."We call this 'the DENSO way.' We think DENSO's belief in and continued efforts for a 'quality first' concept and 'consumer-centric' thinking are what made DENSO what it is today."

Award-winning DENSO

The awards didn't end with J.D. Power and Associates Chairman's Award. Several automakers also acknowledged DENSO's contributions to their success with a variety of awards.

A record year with Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America

At Toyota's annual Supplier Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony, DENSO group companies, affiliates and joint ventures received a record number of awards, including four Excellent level awards and an Excellent level Special Recognition Award for vehicle launch performance.

The Special Recognition Award recognizes suppliers whose stellar performance over the past several years greatly contributed to the smooth launch of the new model Camry.The Special Recognition Award, Excellent level, went to DENSO Manufacturing Michigan for HVAC systems.(Please see sidebar on cover for a complete list of awards.)

DENSO International America (DIAM) Chair and CEO Tony Takeuchi reflected on these awards.

"From 1989 to 1997, DENSO averaged only three to six awards annually, and most of those awards were presented to the same few affiliate companies," he noted."Since 1998, our quality and delivery performance has steadily improved and expanded into each and every company.This great achievement is directly attributable to the focused commitment to excellence by all associates."

Going for the gold, silver and more from Ford

When Ford Motor Company handed out its World Excellence Awards, DENSO's name was at the top of the list.

Through the World Excellence Awards, Ford recognizes suppliers based on quality, cost and delivery metrics developed jointly by Ford and its suppliers.

Put quite simply by Carlos Mazzorin, Ford group vice president of Asia Pacific Operations, South American Operations and Global Purchasing,"We rely on our suppliers to help us build quality into our vehicles."

DENSO was honored with three separate awards:

Gold Award

This award is given to suppliers that excel in quality, cost and delivery. Only nine of these awards were presented, one of which went to DENSO Thailand for wiper systems.

Silver Award

The Silver Award recognizes suppliers that stand out in quality and delivery or quality and cost. DENSO Corporation was honored for HVAC systems.

Recognition of Achievement Award

The Recognition of Achievement Award is given to suppliers who impact customer satisfaction by leading Ford's key initiatives: environmental leadership, high mileage improvement, consumer driven 6-sigma and warranty reduction.

DIAM received a Recognition of Achievement Award for Environmental Leadership.This recognition goes to suppliers that have achieved ISO 14001 requirements at a majority of their plants and have demonstrated environmental achievement and innovation in reducing the environmental impact of Ford products.They are leaders in reaching vehicle recyclability requirements, and they show environmental leadership by consistently taking environmental actions when conducting business.

General Motors Supplier of the Year

For the ninth consecutive year, General Motors named DENSO a Supplier of the Year for superior performance in quality, service, technology and price.

"It is a pleasure to work with a company that excels at meeting our priorities," said Bo Andersson, vice president, GM Worldwide Purchasing, Production Control and Logistics. "DENSO is an industry role model that through performance has set an example for other companies to follow."

Raising the bar

"Let's not be satisfied with what we have accomplished so far," concluded Takeuchi."Our next challenge should be to exceed these high levels of achievement so that we can secure new business and continue to support our customers."