HOW WE CHOOSE OUR SUPPLIERS

At Hilti we like to work with our suppliers as partners and welcome you as an integral part of our process.

We choose our suppliers in a four-step process.

• Pre-selection - we carry out a pre-audit and assess the costs
• Evaluation – a more detailed evaluation and product qualification, agreeing a contract and objectives
• Product qualification – a process audit to ensure that legal, approval, safety and environmental requirements are met. The product is then released for production
• Development – working together according to our key principles

We have several key principles to guide our partnership with our suppliers.

• Shared values
  We like working with suppliers whose values and strategies correspond to our own – suppliers who want to work closely with us and build up long-term partnerships.
• Technology
  We ask a lot of our suppliers in terms of technology and innovation, so we look for suppliers who are technical leaders in their fields.
• Development
  We expect the introduction of new products to be a quick, well-structured and secure process.

So we involve our suppliers at an early stage of our development process to ensure that requirements in terms of quality, costs, environment and deadlines can be met.

• Efficiency
  We expect competitive prices and continuous improvements in cost structures and efficiency.
• Quality
  Our products are premium products of the highest quality.
   

We therefore ask our suppliers to implement a quality management system that meets the requirements of the ISO 9001 or ISO/TS 16949 standards or higher.

Quality must be planned, ensured and documented using appropriate quality tools, such as SPC or FMEA.

• Code of conduct
  We believe that we can only achieve long-term profitable growth if we are responsible to society and the environment.

So we ask our suppliers to also comply with our Code of Conduct.

• Business interruption risk
  We expect our suppliers to provide proof of adequate financial stability and to implement a functioning risk management system that guarantees a very high level of supply security.

• Stock management
  Customer satisfaction is our highest goal and on-time delivery is essential.
   

We therefore expect our suppliers to be logistically competent with efficient stock management and distribution systems – and to be capable of supplying our customers reliably worldwide.

• Contracts
  We aim to build long-term partnerships with our suppliers.  
   

In our contracts we set out goals in terms of quality and productivity. We continually let our suppliers know, how they are fulfilling these goals.

If you’d like to become a Hilti supplier, take a look at our document downloads or contact one of our supply managers.