Successful Certification: PI Upgraded to A-Rated Supplier
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG is one of the leading medical technology companies in ophthalmology (eye care). In addition to examination devices for ophthalmologists and operative microscopes for surgical procedures, systems for the laser-aided correction of vision impairments (refractive surgery) are part of Meditec’s product portfolio. For many years, PI has been a system supplier to Meditec with its PILine drives, which are piezo ultrasonic drives, as well as its controllers for laser beam focusing and movement. Due to problems with delivery and quality, however, the supplier assessment had been unfavorable for PI recently: . This had made it extremely difficult for us to take full advantage of the growth potential offered by Meditec.
Our sales department recognized this and, together with Quality Management, took countermeasures which was successful: In the last supplier assessment from July this year, for the first time, we were upgraded from a C-supplier to an A-supplier!
This was based on the ZEISS internal analysis of our deliveries in the period from July 2022 until June 2023. In the supplier dashboard, which illustrates aspects such as adherence to delivery dates, quantity reliability, and soft facts, we achieved an overall rating of 88 percent - suppliers with 85 percent or more are classified as A-suppliers.
We scored particularly well in the soft facts. Soft facts describe communication with the customer. For example: Do we inform customers about delays in delivery in good time? How do we deal with customer complaints? With regard to the latter point, particularly our 8D reports were highly praised. This method, which originates from the automobile industry, gives support by using a systematic approach to describe and solve the problem. “8D” stands for eight steps which need to be processed one by one.
In our upgrade to an A-supplier, Marc Syguda, Professional Key Account Management DACH, who is responsible for Meditec, sees great potential for PI throughout the ZEISS Group.
Of course, the whole ZEISS Group knows about the result of the supplier assessment and this also strengthens our reputation in other ZEISS divisions. Particularly in the case of Meditec, we now have a good chance of being considered as a strategic supplier for future generations of devices at the early design stage - an important prerequisite for winning long-term supply contracts. In addition, there are a number of precision positioning tasks that need to be solved in Meditec's equipment for which we have not yet been selected as a supplier. Now, we also have better chances of being considered for this.
Contact persons:
- Markus Greis, Director Sales – DACH
- Marc Syguda, Professional Key Account Management DACH