July 21, 2015 was a special day in Wolfsburg as GROB-WERKE received the great honor of being named a member of Volkswagen’s FAST initiative. FAST stands for “Future Automotive Supply Tracks”, meaning that the Volkswagen Group has declared a new dimension in technological and innovative collaboration with its best suppliers. In a process lasting over four months involving over 10,000 companies, Volkswagen sought out the 44 best firms. “We at GROB are one of the few companies in the powertrain segment selected for this program”, gladly stated German Wankmiller, Chairman of the GROB Management Board, regarding this designation.
High objectives of the Volkswagen Group
The Volkswagen Group has set ambitious goals for itself, wanting to be not only the most successful automaker, but also the engine for future mobility. In order to accomplish this strategy, the company is planning a much earlier and more intensive exchange at the strategic and technological level with the most innovative partners and suppliers. The FAST initiative establishes the framework for this. Implementation of FAST involves all brands and regions of the Volkswagen Group. FAST entails a revision of frameworks and interfaces for innovation for all suppliers as well as establishment of new processes for early project inclusion.
Against this backdrop, the Volkswagen Group will work together more closely with the selected group of suppliers, now including GROB-WERKE. Consequently, in the context of strategic dialog, these suppliers will have access to the Group’s top decision-makers in order to be able to implement innovations more efficiently and especially rapidly.
Principles of cooperation
In order to meet current challenges in the areas of innovation and globalization, in the future a new form of cooperation between the Volkswagen Group and its most important suppliers will be maintained. This means that innovation interfaces to suppliers will be redefined in order to realize new technologies more quickly. This will ensure sustainable worldwide growth and success with selected, globally-operating partners. In order to function more effectively on all levels, a transparent process will link the strategies of the Volkswagen Group with its partners. To accomplish this, the Volkswagen Group offers a binding framework for the exchange of innovations and strategies, thereby creating maximum trust among the partners. Starting immediately this will raise cooperation with strategic suppliers to a new level in order to accelerate common product and innovation processes.
“To be a partner in this elite circle is not only an honor for us, but a great challenge as well”, German Wankmiller said, realistically assessing the FAST designation. “Yet, I am certain that with GROB’s strengths including quality, reliability and sustainability, we can justify the trust of the Volkswagen Group”.
