Swoboda received the prestigious Award in the industrial companies category because of its pronounced quality culture based on various strategies to improve a zero defect tolerance and the employees' high quality focus.
High-precision metal-plastic components "Made by Swoboda“ have become the main pillar for security, reliability, emission reduction and comfort in automobiles worldwide. Careful development and production of electro-mechanical components such as housings for transmission control units, sensors, steering control units and magnetic assemblies have made Swoboda the technology leader in this sector. However, this quality does not come by random: A "zero defect tolerance" and the component's unrestricted reliability are an integral part of Swoboda's corporate policy.
"A high degree of quality awareness is securing the Bavarian business location an immense appeal and a basis for a profitable future. These award winners greatly contribute to these objectives," says Emilia Müller, State Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, Family and Integration. Together with Prof.Dr.Dr.h.c.mult. Horst Wildemann, she presented the prize to Swoboda's representatives Michael Follmann (CEO), Clemems Bauernfeind (CFO), Christian Göser (CSO) and Roland Dollansky (Head of Quality Assurance).
Prof.Dr.Dr.h.c.mult. Horst Wildemann, Chair of the Institute for Management, Logistics and Production at the Technical University of Munich and technical supervisor of the competition, summed up in his speech that "Swoboda produces mechatronic components for all major automotive manufacturers. To achieve this, the company works with innovative manufacturing processes and newest production methods. This justifies Swoboda's excellent reputation as an unrivaled quality supplier”. Swoboda's success, according to Wildemann, is also reflected by its figures: A quality score of less than three PPM is only possible by having an uncompromising focus on quality.
"We are all very pleased about this important award; however, we can only accept this award on behalf of all employees. Innovation and Quality are only possible because our colleagues do their job with passion and care, acquire further qualifications, react to variations in quality and provide suggestions for improvement," Michael Follmann, CEO, said at the award ceremony on Tuesday evening. And further: "We place strong emphasis on a broad concept of quality assurance in our production processes such as statistical process control, automatic control processes and the creation of preventative quality assurance methods. We can achieve substantial productivity gains and a greater customer and employee satisfaction only because we are continuously improving our quality."
From the point of view of shareholder Matthias Groth, the award is recognition for the company’s long-term outlook: "Swoboda stands for a long-lived tradition of quality orientation. We put great emphasis on sustainability and continuity. This makes us a reliable partner to the automotive industry. We are proud that our culture of quality and innovation, which is reflected in on our high-quality training as well as in the outstanding quality of our products, has been awarded with this prestigious award."
Comprehensive on-site performance review
The Quality Award of the Bavarian State Ministry for Economy and Media, Energy and Technology is an annual award for outstanding quality management and is awarded based on differentiated assessment categories: After a panel of experts from science, industry and trade associations evaluated extensive amounts of documentation according to a great variety of quality categories such as strategy, image, performance management, procurement, integration of employees, research and development, and production, two auditors in February were convinced themselves in Wiggensbach of the practical implementation of "practiced quality standards."