Industrial Supply Association recognizes MRO buying activities at Pratt & Whitney
By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 7/17/2008 6:00:00 AM
The Industrial Supply Association (ISA) presented its American Eagle Value-Added Partner award to manufacturer Saint-Gobain Abrasives and distributor Bruckner Supply Co. for a joint program that brought more than $4 million in cost savings to Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corp. company.
In 2007, Purchasing named Bob Calvez, global commodity manager for MRO at UTC to the magazine's All-Star MRO Buy team for 2007. Saint-Gobain in Worcester, Mass., and Bruckner Supply Co. in Port Washington, N.Y., identified seven projects that contributed to the cost savings at two Pratt manufacturing plants in Connecticut.
In one project, the team developed a new process for grinding aircraft engine component parts that improved productivity by 50% to 70%. It reduced scrap, improved quality, increased productivity and reduced tooling costs.
“Bruckner feels that collaborative efforts like these will increase in the future,” says Brian Spurlock, director for Bruckner operations at UTC. “There is no higher honor than for someone in the marketplace to recognize the value you bring to the customer.”
Dave Dodd, North American sales manager, industrial market at Saint-Gobain, adds that receiving the award “confirms our strategy and our mission that we need to continue to focus on delivering added value to our customer base.”
In order to win the award, applicants were required to demonstrate exceptional documented cost savings or productivity improvements based on a single event or an annual program conducted with a channel partner.
ISA announced the winners during the Industrial Supply Conference & Trade Fair held recently in Chicago. The award recognizes the efforts of a manufacturer and distributor working together to add value to their end-user customers.
“We're pleased to name Saint-Gobain and Bruckner Supply winners of our American Eagle Value-Added Partner Award,” says Darcy Arena, chairperson of ISA's awards and recognition subcommittee and vice president of sales for Relton Corp., Arcadia, Calif. “By winning this prestigious award, these two companies demonstrated how supply chain partners working together can make a significant bottom-line difference to their joint customer.”
Hartford, Conn.-based UTC received Purchasing's Medal of Professional Excellence in 2006.
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