MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Water Heating Division of Rheem Manufacturing Co. paid special tribute to several suppliers at its annual Supplier Awards Ceremony. The Rheem executives – Ken Jarosz, corporate vice president strategic sourcing; Dan Luehrs, vice president of operations; and Bill Kennedy, supplier development manager – presented a “Supplier-Partner of the Year” award to the top-performing supplier for 2006 in each of six different commodity groupings: Manufactured Components, Cedinor, Nuevo Leon, Mexico; Plastic/Rubber Components, Mercury Plastics Inc., Middlefield, Ohio; Electrical-Mechanical Components, Tyco Fire & Safety Products, Lubbock, Texas; Printed/Packaging/Insulation Components, Owens Corning, Springfield, Tenn.; Raw Materials, Liberty Steel, North Jackson, Ohio; and Distribution, Gulf Coast Marketing, Birmingham, Ala.

Supplier-Partner of the Year awards are based upon rated performance in five specific categories: technology, delivered product quality, service and support, delivery, and cost.

Finally, 11 companies were cited for achieving “zero defects” or no incoming/in-process material rejections in the products and services they supplied to Rheem during 2006. These award recipients were: Liberty Steel, North Jackson, Ohio; Pemco, Baltimore; Merryweather Foam, Sylacauga, Ala.; Newcomb Spring, Lithonia, Ga.; Wenzel Metal Spinning, Scottsboro, Ala.; Trillium Metal Stampings, Kitchener, Ontario; Central United Corp., Newburg, Wis.; U.S. Silica, Pacific, Miss.; Standard Register, Franklin, Tenn.; Jakel Inc., Highland, Ill.; and Commercial Metal Forming, Youngstown, Pa.

Publication date: 07/23/2007