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Automotive vocabulary · Manufacturing, Quality and Testing

Tier 1 supplier

Meaning in automotive, with examples

nounCommon term

In automotive, tier 1 supplier means: A company that supplies parts or complete systems directly to a vehicle maker. Tier 2 suppliers sell to Tier 1 companies, and Tier 3 suppliers usually provide raw materials or basic parts.

In Turkish: birinci kademe tedarikçi, Tier 1 tedarikçi

How it is used

Common in purchasing, quality and project meetings. People say Tier 1 and Tier 2 as nouns: our Tier 1, a Tier 2 casting supplier. Tier 1 suppliers often develop whole systems such as seats, brakes or infotainment.

Example sentences

  1. Our Tier 1 supplier delivers complete front-end modules to the line every two hours.

  2. The defect started at a Tier 2 company, but the Tier 1 supplier is responsible to the OEM.

Common collocations

  • direct supplier
  • Tier 2 supplier
  • supply chain
  • supplier quality
  • OEMShort for original equipment manufacturer. In the car industry it usually means the vehicle maker itself; in the parts trade, OEM parts are the original parts made by or for that maker.
  • PPAPShort for Production Part Approval Process: the formal package of evidence a supplier submits to show that its production process can make parts that meet all customer requirements.
  • assembly lineA production line where a vehicle moves from station to station and workers or robots add parts in a fixed order until the car is complete.
  • aftermarketThe market for parts, accessories and services that are not supplied by the vehicle maker, such as non-original spare parts, independent workshops and tuning products.

More terms: Manufacturing, Quality and Testing

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