John Deere has named Nucor Cold Finish, a Nebraska-based supplier of cold finish bars, as a Partner-level supplier for 2010. Moreover, the company was named an Enterprise Supply Management Supplier of the Year in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program.

The Partner-level status is the highest rating Deere bestows upon its suppliers, according to the company; Nucor was selected for the supplier honor because of its prompt delivery of products, its attention to detail and its commitment to improving its business practices and efficiency.

Deere scrutinizes its suppliers and the company said Nucor routinely delivers products of the highest quality either on time or ahead of schedule. Nucor was judged on its quality control, cost management, delivery, technical support and its level of responsiveness. Deere created the program 20 years ago to reward suppliers that beat expectations.

Nucor chief executive Dan DiMicco said the award "is a real honor for all of our Nucor Nebraska teammates as we work toward establishing long-term, value driven relationships with our customers." Moreover, he affirmed the recognition from Deere "demonstrates the strength of our integrated cold finish bar supply chain and our ability to consistently supply a wide range of exceptional quality cold finish bars under demanding market circumstances."

Nucor's team will accept the award on March 1 at the annual Deere & Co Achieving Excellence Awards Banquet.