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The COO of Q-Cells opened the third PV Fab Managers' Forum in Dresden on March 8th, 2009. Gerhard Rauter represented the PV fab managers' working group, made up of Q-Cells, Sunways, Solarwatt, Scheuten, Solland, Sovello, Deutsche Cell, Schott Solar and ersol. He presented a supplier benchmarking study conducted during 2008 that details, anonymously, where the suppliers of particular tool sets could improve.

Solar Leaders TV presents exclusive footage of the opening session of the conference. Gerhard Rauter called for closer cooperation between suppliers and manufacturers, revealing that Q-Cells has awarded contracts in various global locations as part of its dual vendor strategy.

Rauter goes on to acknowledge the momentary module oversupply situation as a key opportunity for manufacturers to work together to improve manufacturing processes and business transparency in the sector. Focus for process advance is placed on the introduction of standard process control, adopting standards through work with the SEMI/PV Group standards commitee, implementation of MES systems and the better specification of equipment needs in fabs.

Our coverage of the session ends with comment from Peter Pauli, CEO, Meyer Burger who comments of the likelihood of equipment providers being able to deliver on the requests put forward by the PV Fab Managers' Working Group. Jorg Baumheuer, Sovello's COO, rounded off the discussion with support for Gerhard's comments.

Stay tuned to Solar Leaders TV over the coming weeks as we bring you highlights of all four sessions from the PV Fab Managers' Forum over the coming weeks as well as a selection of interviews with key individuals at the forum.