Continental AG : Cooperation in Purchasing between Continental and Schaeffler

• Second joint Continental and Schaeffler Premium Supplier Day with 41 suppliers
• Twelve new suppliers included in the Premium Supplier Circle
• Status of 19 premium suppliers confirmed
• Total of 31 suppliers now meet the strict premium criteria, 200 shall comply in the long term

Würzburg, November 29, 2013. Continental and Schaeffler have been cooperating in purchasing for four years. Both suppliers for automobile manufacturers and the industrial sector have now held their second joint Premium Supplier Day and invited 41 suppliers from twelve countries to Würzburg. These suppliers supply numerous Continental and Schaeffler locations worldwide.

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Suppliers must meet high requirements in order to become premium suppliers. Continental and Schaeffler have a total of more than 1,200 strategic suppliers, of which 400 were selected and assessed according to a list of requirements with ten criteria. The 41 suppliers gathered in Würzburg have managed to fulfill most of these criteria. Twelve of the companies were appointed as premium suppliers and are now included in the Premium Supplier Circle. The status of all 19 existing premium suppliers was also confirmed.

GünterFella, Senior Vice President Purchasing at Continental Automotive, and Oliver Jung, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Operating Officer at Schaeffler welcomed the participating suppliers. Both went into detail about the current business situations of their companies and emphasized the importance of the most importantnew technologies. "The cooperation with the Premium Supplier Circle is the basis for a successful industrialization of these technologies because we can only overcome the challenges of the future with a good supplier structure", said Günter Fella.

The purchasing cooperation between both suppliers and the close collaboration with premium suppliers is a win-win situation for all involved.

"Continental and Schaeffler have a joint purchasing volume of almost 15 billion euros this year. Our companies operate on the market as independent units but the cooperation in purchasing enables us to use synergies and reduce cost. At the same time, the close collaboration with joint premium suppliers ensures that we have a supplier base, which fulfills our high requirements", added Oliver Jung. "On the other hand, we are able to offer our premium suppliers disproportional growth potential by concentrating on the Premium Supplier Circle, which we want to expand to 200 suppliers in the long term."

The twelve premium suppliers newly appointed by Continental and Schaeffler:

Berger Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Memmingen (Germany)

DSM Deutschland GmbH, Heerlen (Netherlands)

Ejot Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Bad Berleburg (Germany)

Erdrich Umformtechnik GmbH & Co.KG, Renchen-Ulm (Germany)

Ergotech S.R.L., Settimo Vittone (Italy)

Gibbs Die Casting Corporation, Henderson (USA)

Hutchinson GmbH, Mannheim (Germany)

Perrotton S.A., Bonneville (France)

Stettler Kunststofftechnik GmbH & Co.KG, Burgwindheim (Germany)

Suzhou Fine Blanking & Tool Co., Ltd., Suzhou (China)

Tontec International Ltd., Kowloon (Hong Kong)

Sinnotech (Suzhou) Co., Ltd., Suzhou (China)