2011 Registration Document - Valeo

1 Presentation
PAGE 28
of Valeo and its businesses
Presentation of Valeo
Over the last several years, Valeo has implemented a program
of resident engineers in order to provide optimal customer
support. Engineers are no longer simply assigned to a given
customer; they actually go and work at the customer’s
premises. As soon as a problem is detected, the engineer
communicates it to the appropriate staff at Valeo, so that
actions can be defined immediately to protect the customer.
At the end of 2011, the Group had 82 resident engineers:
54 in Europe, 12 in North America, 12 in Asia and 4 in South
America. A warranty resident engineer program and other
projects have also been rolled out since 2010, which has
allowed 12 engineers to join customer teams.
Reinforcing the Valeo Quality culture involves the mobilization
of all employees at all levels, and is based on:
the implementation of the RAISE process (Robustness
Accountability Innovation Standardization Expertise)
aimed at making product and process standards more
robust, in order to improve warranty results. There is a
dedicated team of product and process experts within
each Product Group. The standards are always validated
during Standardization Committee meetings, and the LLCs
(Lessons Learned Cards) from incidents are integrated into
the standards. Throughout development, the application of
standards is checked using RAISE design reviews. Finally,
training has been developed within the various Valeo
Technical Institutes to teach teams about standards and
how they are used;
the roll out of ten tools used to strengthen the application
of the Quality system, which is based on the 5 Ax es and
covers three topics:
attitude: the QRQC (Quick Response Quality Control)
approach;
conditions for producing Quality: 5S (a system for the
proper organization and management of work areas), work
instruction s and operator certification, zero rework , stop
scrap , change management;
anticipation: testing of SPPC (Special Product and
Process Characteristics), controlling project launches,
Standardization Committees/Technical Committees,
verifying the Genba (where and when a problem arises) of
the processes involving analyses of fault modes, their effect
and their critical nature.
At the end of 2011, the Group’s quality level was 13,100 PPB
(defective parts per billion). A total of 27% of the Group’s
sites were at 0 PPB and 76% were at less than 10,000 PPB,
which represents an improvement of almost 30% compared
with the situation in the previous year. At the same time, total
non-quality costs (direct costs, special transport and warranty
costs) were stable.
2011 Registration D ocument - VALEO
Sales and International Development
Department
Valeo develops, produces and sells original equipment
and aftermarket products and systems for all automotive
and truck manufacturers.
The Group’s commercial policy extends well beyond
everyday commercial relations and involves forging very close
partnerships and accompanying its customers in developing
their markets, throughout the world.
Automaker customers
In 2011, German customers were the Group’s leading
customers, representing 29% of sales. French customers
(excluding Nissan) and American customers (including
Chrysler) represented 20% and 17% of Group sales
respectively.
Asian customers (including Nissan) represented 25% of
Group sales, showing how much Valeo has expanded in Asia
particularly with the recent acquisition of Niles in July 2011,
but also with Valeo’s steady growth with Korean and Chinese
customers.
The Group’s biggest customer represents 19% of Valeo’s
sales.
Valeo’s main original equipment customers are (in alphabetical
order):
BMW
BYD Auto
Chery
Daimler
Fiat/Chrysler
FAW
Ford Motor Company
Geely/Volvo Cars
General Motors
Great Wall
Honda
Hyundai/Kia
JAC
MAN
Mazda
Mitsubishi
PSA Peugeot Citroën
Renault-Nissan
SAIC
Scania
Subaru
Suzuki
Tata Motors/Jaguar/Land Rover
Toyota
Volkswagen Group/Porsche
Volvo Trucks