Henkel rewards ‘outstanding’ partner performance

Henkel presents three annual awards to its partners and suppliers to recognize ‘outstanding performance, with Supply Performance, Supplier Innovation and Supplier Sustainability awards presented.

This year’s Supply Performance award went to BASF, which won the prize due to its extensive effort to supply punctual and reliable raw materials in the very best quality, according to Henkel, which descried BASF as a ‘professional and trustworthy partner that responds to its customers’ needs’.

The Supplier Innovation award went to Japan’s Kaneka, a supplier of polymers for a variety of industrial applications. Kaneka proactively gives Henkel access to its innovations, to open up and explore new paths together.

The final award, Supplier Sustainability, went to Dow Corning, which received the award for its ongoing efforts to optimize processes with regard to sustainability. Henkel said Dow Corning proactively addresses topics such as logistics and waste reduction, and develops new concepts together with Henkel, with a recycling concept being developed to optimize the processing and reuse of product residues.

Henkel said close collaboration with its strategic suppliers is a key factor in driving ‘innovations and provide best-in-class service’, with Mike Olosky, its corporate senior vice-president for research and innovation, saying: ‘Strategically directed programs and joint research and development projects with strategic suppliers enable us to gain early access to our partners’ latest innovations.

‘The close and trustful collaboration with our partners allows us to incorporate our requirements at a very early stage in the development process, and meet the specific needs of our customers in the best possible way.’

Bertrand Conquéret, Henkel corporate senior vice-president and head of corporate purchasing, said: ‘Being in open and direct contact and cooperation with the senior management teams of our strategic suppliers fosters our ambition to set the market benchmark together, leveraging shared innovation expertise, ownership and leadership. Together we strive to deliver excellence in supply performance, innovation and sustainability generating differentiated competitive edge and answers to the Needs of our customers throughout the entire value chain.’