Looking back at the past year and into 2023
2022 was full of exciting highlights for the APQP4Wind organization. The APQP4Wind Board of Directors welcomed the two utility companies, Ørsted and Vattenfall, to the board to strengthen the cooperation across the entire supply chain.
The Board of Directors also re-elected its chairman and elected Gert B. Kragh-Jakobsen from Ørsted to become a part of the Chairmanship that now includes representatives from utilities, OEMs, and tier 1 suppliers. Together, they complete the supply chain hierarchy.
Furthermore, APQP4Wind started cooperating with two important projects: The first to be announced was our cooperation with Industry Standards to push industrial standardization in the wind industry, and the second was our cooperation with TIM Wind (Technical Information Management for the Wind Industry) to align the methods for technical information structure and management in the global wind industry.
Throughout the year, the support for APQP4Wind has also grown significantly. Today, 110+ companies are APQP4Wind Company Members, including three utility companies and six OEMs. This milestone was celebrated with our community during WindEnergy Hamburg in late September at an exclusive networking event for our company members, where 100 people participated.
Vattenfall and Ørsted as a part of the Board of Directors
It was also during this year’s WindEnergy trade fair that the APQP4Wind Board of Directors welcomed Vattenfall and Ørsted to the board and held an official signing ceremony.
As the first utility companies to join the APQP4Wind Board of Directors, the admission of Vattenfall and Ørsted to the board was closely aligned with the APQP4Wind organization’s mission to enable and strengthen cooperation across the entire supply chain.
The APQP4Wind organization was, therefore, delighted to welcome Vattenfall and Ørsted to the APQP4Wind Board of Directors, said the Chairman of the APQP4Wind Board and Head of Sales Quality NCE at Vestas Wind Systems, Henning Bach Jokumsen:
“We are very excited to welcome both Vattenfall and Ørsted to the APQP4Wind Board of Directors. As the first utility companies to become board members, we are certain that Vattenfall and Ørsted can provide the board with valuable insight into the wind power customers’ perspective and enable us to mature and align the wind industry even further.
The APQP4Wind Board of Directors has consisted of representatives from OEMs and tier 1 suppliers since APQP4Wind became an independent organization in 2018. With the addition of Vattenfall and Ørsted to the board, the APQP4Wind Board now has representatives from across multiple levels of the supply chain.
Read more about the vision of Vattenfall and Ørsted as a part of the APQP4Wind Board of Directors here.
The new APQP4Wind Chairmanship was elected
As Vattenfall and Ørsted joined the APQP4Wind Board of Directors, the biennial election of a new Chairman at the latest Board of Directors meeting also meant that a new Vice Chairman was to be elected.
Here, Gert B. Kragh-Jakobsen from Ørsted was elected as the first APQP4Wind Vice Chairman to represent utilities, and Henning Bach Jokumsen from Vestas was re-elected as Chairman for two more years. The two now form the APQP4Wind Chairmanship together with Vice Chairman Kim Schmidt Petersen.
After he was elected Vice Chairman and representative for utilities in the Chairmanship, Gert B. Kragh-Jakobsen said:
“I am motivated by the prospect of creating the future solution for industrialization in our industry of green energy production. By including utilities in the Chairmanship of the Board of Directors, we will complete the supply chain hierarchy to cover the value chain from cradle to grave.
Gert B. Kragh-Jakobsen and Henning Bach Jokumsen were elected by our dedicated Board Members from GE Renewable Energy, GRI Renewable Industries, Goldwind, KK Wind Solutions, LM Wind Power, Siemens Gamesa, Vattenfall, Vestas, ZF Group and Ørsted.
Read more about the ambitions of the new Chairmanship here.
The cooperation between APQP4Wind and Industry Standards
Back in June, APQP4Wind was happy to announce a cooperation with key players in the wind industry on Industry Standards. The Industry Standards are developed by technical working groups represented by all relevant parties in the wind power supply chain. Together, we aim to push industrial standardization in the wind industry.
The first industry specification that was launched covers fasteners. This industry specification was produced by a technical working group representing all parties in the supply chain for fasteners used in wind turbines.
See a preview of the Industry Specification: Fasteners - Technical Specification, Version 1 – May 2022 on the APQP4Wind website page ‘Fasteners’.
Read more about the cooperation with Industry Standards here.
APQP4Wind’s cooperation with TIM Wind
As TIM Wind aims to align the methods for technical information structure and management, agreeing to cooperate with TIM Wind and deliver support to the project made great sense to the APQP4Wind organization.
About the cooperation, CEO of APQP4Wind, Kim Nedergaard Jacobsen said: "There was no doubt that we would agree to cooperate with TIM Wind when they first approached us. Their ambition to create an unambiguous interpretation of the existing standards and develop new standards for the industry could not be more coherent with our vision to align and mature the wind industry supply chain. Together with TIM Wind, we aim to align the methods for technical information management in the global wind industry."
The TIM Wind project is a collaboration between GE Renewable Energy, Equinor, Nordex Acciona, Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, Vattenfall, Vestas Wind Systems, and Ørsted to agree on technical information management standards for the wind industry.
Read more about the cooperation with TIM Wind here.
Great networking within the APQP4Wind Community
The ever-growing APQP4Wind Community grew by 30+ new members this year alone and now holds 110+ Company Members, including six OEMs and three utility companies. By being Company Members, the companies are actively contributing to developing and maturing APQP4Wind and helping strengthen its implementation within the global wind industry supply chain.
During this year’s WindEnergy trade fair in September, the APQP4Wind Secretariat, therefore, wanted to celebrate this milestone by hosting a Networking Event exclusively for our Company Members. During the successful event, our Board Members and guest speakers presented the future ambitions and visions for APQP4Wind. Following the presentation and Q&A session, the 100 participants had time to network within the APQP4Wind Community to establish new connections with people in the industry.
Read more about the networking during WindEnergy here, see the full list of our APQP4Wind Company Members here, and learn how to join our community by becoming an APQP4Wind Company Member here.
Looking forward to the new year
In the APQP4Wind organization, we are looking very much forward to 2023, where our ambition is to align the global wind industry even further by growing the APQP4Wind Community, supporting the entire wind industry to mature and develop, and accommodating the growing demands for APQP4Wind in the many markets around the globe.
We look forward to working together with you to fulfill our ambitions in the year to come.
The APQP4Wind Secretariat will be on vacation from December 22, 2022, until January 3, 2023.