AAF Flanders has done it again.

For the second year in a row, the air filtration company was recognized as the Grainger Partners in Performance Supplier of the Year.

AAF Flanders was selected from a group of more than 5,000 manufacturers, and recipients of this award must “achieve excellence in several categories, including responsiveness, information integrity, on time shipping and variability, management commitment and order fulfillment,” according to a press release.

“Grainger is proud to recognize AAF Flanders for its outstanding supplier performance,” stated Matt Fortin, Grainger vice president and president of Global Product Management. “Grainger provides customers with the products and solutions they need to keep their operations running and their people safe. This could not be done without the great partnership of our suppliers. We appreciate AAF Flanders’ commitment to providing superior products and outstanding service to our mutual customers.”

Tim Zwilling, vice president of sales in integrated supply at AAF Flanders, said the company’s success boils down to the people working there.

“It’s definitely the employees. It’s teamwork; it’s everybody working toward a goal,” Zwilling said. “It takes everyone pulling in the same direction.”

He said the employees embraced overall goals set for the company, from making sure inventory is in stock, to making sure that inventory ships on time. AAF Flanders provides thousands of air-filtration supply units to Grainger each year, and Zwilling said that means employees have to be on top of their game.

“It’s a lot of community. It’s a lot of follow up. It’s a lot of reporting. It’s a lot of measurement,” he said. “To keep that high level of service two years in a row is very difficult. … Oftentimes it comes down to a shipping rate being a tenth of a percent better.”

AAF Flanders is the only company to win Supplier of the Year two years in a row, according to the release.

“We’re extremely excited about it. It’s an honor to win it once,” Zwilling said. “Especially for a company of our size and all the products we sell.”

In April 2016, American Air Filter Co. Inc. acquired the Washington-based Flanders Corp. — a $430 million deal secured by American Air Filter’s parent company Daikin. That acquisition pushed AAF International to No. 1 in air filtration across the globe. AAF Flanders also acquired Phoenix-based Aire Filter Products in January.