Bernsbach/Erzgebirge, March 1, 1995
The steel-processing firm of Blechformwerke Erzgebirge Bernsbach GmbH (BfW) has been able to considerably expand its business base. This positive development is mainly due to connections the company has made with the Daimler-Benz Group as part of the latter's purchasing drive in the new federal states, an initiative which dates back to 1992. On March 1, 1995, the first transfer press to have been delivered from the Mercedes-Benz passenger car plant at Sindelfingen to the works at Lößnitz in the Erzgebirge will go into active service. Two further transfer presses will have been transferred from Swabia to Saxony by October 1995. In the first phase, 20 different serial parts for, amongst other things, the Mercedes-Benz C-class car will be produced at BfW. As a result, not only will existing jobs be secured and new ones created in the Erzgebirge, but also the tradition of supplying automotive parts will carry on as before. This point was highlighted by Bernd Fiedler, Managing Director of BfW, and Robert Oetzel, the project leader of the purchasing drive at Daimler-Benz, at a joint press conference in Lößnitz.Long before unification, Blechformwerke Erzgebirge Bernsbach was a large manufacturer of body parts and fuel tanks for many types of vehicles. That is why it was well-equipped to submit appropriate tenders when spare-part production for Mercedes-Benz cars was relocated within the framework of the purchasing drive. In 1993, BfW received a Mercedes-Benz contract for a 50% share in a large spare-part production program. This involved the transfer of 4,500 tools from Mercedes-Benz to BfW. The tools, which were of various sizes, weighed 12,000 tonnes and are capable of generating an annual sales volume of around DM 5 million. After a thorough analysis, BfW was also awarded the contract for manufacturing 36,000 serial fuel tanks a year with a sales volume of DM 6 million, which when added to the previous figure gives a total turnover of DM 11 million with Mercedes-Benz. It has taken just four months to effect the relocation from the Mercedes-Benz plant at Bremen to Lößnitz. The investment costs have totalled DM 2 million. In addition, BfW has received machinery and equipment from the Mercedes-Benz plant at Bremen worth approx. DM 5 million.
In July 1994, BfW responded to an invitation to tender for a Mercedes-Benz relocation project. The project involved the relocation of three transfer presses from Sindelfingen along with the related series production of sheet-steel parts worth DM 6 million. In the face of some notable competition, BfW came out on top and was awarded the contract.
Thanks to the Mercedes-Benz contracts, it was possible to secure 200 jobs and even create 80 new jobs during 1994. With the relocation of the transfer presses, a further 25 jobs will be created in 1995.
Fiedler expressed some very positive views about those responsible for the purchasing drive project. He said that the "guardian" scheme in particular had contributed in no small way to cementing relations between Mercedes-Benz and BfW. Thanks to a high degree of commitment, coupled with knowledge and experience, the "guardian" had proved invaluable in bringing about this collaborative venture. At all levels of business, effective communication had been introduced at short notice with the result that the supply performance of BfW is now a match for any international company.
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