HARTING Technology Group wins the “excellent large series production” category

　　Espelkamp, October 11, 2010 – The Electronics Division of the HARTING Technology Group is one of the winners in the toughest benchmark competition for the production industry in Germany. At “Factory of the Year/GEO 2010”, HARTING was named as the winner of the “excellent large series production” category. The competition was founded in 1992 by the corporate consultant A.T. Kearney and the magazine “Produktion”. It recognizes the achievements of production companies that meet high benchmark standards in terms of efficiency, agility, quality, innovation, value creation and customer satisfaction in an exemplary way and demonstrate outstanding three-year development.

　　To apply for the “Factory of the Year/GEO 2010” competition, candidates must initially submit a questionnaire containing 300 key figures in the fields of supply chain management or product and process development. After a detailed evaluation, the best companies undergo a thorough inspection to ascertain and examine all details on-site. The jury was highly impressed by the outstanding commitment of HARTING’s staff who presented their respective areas of responsibility themselves, providing precise information. “Factory of the Year/GEO 2010” is the most highly recognized competition in Germany to objectively evaluate the quality and efficiency of our processes. Thanks to the highly detailed assessment, we can see exactly how effective our measures are and which areas of potential can be further exploited,” said Torsten Ratzmann, who, as Managing Director at the HARTING Technology Group, is responsible for global production.

　　In the 14 years that the competition has presented the “Factory of the Year/GEO Award” category, only three companies prior to HARTING have received the much coveted “excellent large series production” award, the last being Volkswagen AG in 2008 with its Braunschweig factory.

　　“As a technology company, innovation for us does not just mean constantly developing new future-oriented products, but also evaluating ourselves critically on an ongoing basis and looking for improvement potential. I am very proud of the exceptional performance of our staff which resulted in this success. However, we do not just see this award as recognition of our achievements to date, but also as an incentive to continue improving ourselves in future. Standing still is regression – improvements can always be made,” said entrepreneur Dietmar Harting.