Exclusive Supplier Status at GM

WEISS is the exclusive supplier of rotary indexing tables for car body assembly at General Motors in Detroit, USA. In one of the world's largest automobile sales markets, WEISS North America is set to equip all plants of the Detroit-based automotive giant with CR heavy duty tables. The bar was set very high in terms of the selection criteria, with all vendors going through a detailed qualification process in Germany and the United States prior to the contract being awarded. Following the stress test, the North American office of the automation component manufacturer was ahead of the bunch. The ultimate decision to go with WEISS was not based solely on price. Indeed, GM deemed the compact construction and fast emergency stop offered by the tables for heavy loads more important. The high degree of flexibility and reusability due to the freely programmable nature of the tables and the fact that WEISS had by far the best service on offer were other equally important factors for the US automotive manufacturer. Bill Eppich, Vice President WEISS North America, is delighted with the development: "We have enjoyed continuous growth in the last 7 years, tripling our revenue. Most recently, the excellent properties of our CR heavy duty rotary indexing ring have made a particular contribution to driving forward growth." The CR heavy duty rotary indexing ring is one of the latest highlights in the WEISS product portfolio. It was designed from the outset with a keen eye on securing the greatest possible user-friendliness. While other heavy duty tables often need to be sunk into the ground due to their physical height, the CR from WEISS has opened up new design options for ergonomically optimised workplaces thanks to its flat and compact construction. Its components are designed and matched to one another in such a way that it is user-programmable and allows completely new manufacturing concepts to be established for both manual processes and automated robot solutions. The CR also brings together two concepts that help companies operating in the automotive sector to tap new savings potential, as the rotary indexing tables in the CR heavy duty range can brake just as quickly as they can increase productivity. They also allow the safety clearance distances to be quickly reduced in the man-machine world of production halls. Ergo: the total floor space required and the costs involved are both reduced. So Bill Eppich has good reason to make optimistic forecasts: "I expect our market in the US to enjoy sustained growth over the next few years, and we are anticipating a very encouraging revenue boost for 2011."

For more information on Exclusive Supplier Status at GM talk to WEISS UK Ltd