Since the start of the pandemic, in-person award ceremonies haven’t been possible, for good reason. They have not been aligned with the safety measures that many companies have taken. That was also the case for the Transformation Award sponsored by the automotive and machine-building supplier Schaeffler. So what do you do? Just quietly pack up the trophy and send it to Weinheim, instead of presenting it personally? The Herzogenaurach-based company didn’t want to do it that way. So the award waited months to make its grand entrance – and it finally arrived with a new central purchasing agent.
“At Schaeffler, Christian Rieker had assumed the position of central purchaser. We took advantage of the opportunity and invited him to Weinheim,” said David May, Key Account Manager. “This way, we were able to get to know him personally, which always makes collaboration easier. We also showed him our test facility to emphasize our testing expertise.” On this occasion, he was finally able to present the award.
By bestowing the award, Schaeffler honored Freudenberg Sealing Technologies (FST) as a companion, on an equal footing, in its transition to e-mobility. Dennis Gunst, FST Sales Director, put it this way: “With Schaeffler, we are taking an integrated approach. Our goal is to jointly develop solutions while contributing our broadly-based expertise relating to the new systems and assemblies that Schaeffler wants to bring to the market.” A series of TechDays have been held for Schaeffler. New contacts have been made and existing ones deepened during them. “The Transformation Award can reinforce these efforts, improving our position within the Schaeffler community. The award makes it clear that ‘they can get something done.’”
