Supplier Diversity Development

Ford remains strongly committed to utilizing and developing supplier companies that are owned by minorities and women. Our Supplier Diversity Development office works with business leaders, trade associations and community-based organizations that represent the interests of diverse businesses.

Our annual goal is to source 10 percent of U.S. purchases from minority- and women-owned businesses. Our record of minority supplier development has earned Ford a seat at the “Billion Dollar Roundtable,” an exclusive group of 17 companies that purchase a minimum of $1 billion annually from diverse suppliers.

In 2010, Ford purchased $3.8 billion in goods and services from approximately 200 minority-owned suppliers and more than $866 million in goods and services from more than 150 women-owned businesses. Our 2010 results were an improvement over 2009, exceeding our sourcing goals for both minority- and women-owned suppliers.

Ford is unwavering in its commitment to incremental year-over-year percentage increases in sourcing from diverse suppliers. We encourage similar actions across our supply chain. In 2010, more than 400 of our largest Tier 1 suppliers purchased more than $1 billion from minority- and women-owned enterprises in support of Ford business.

In 2010, Ford added two minority-owned suppliers to our Aligned Business Framework (ABF) suppliers: Uniworld Group, Ford’s African-American advertising agency of record, based in New York; and Zubi Advertising, Ford’s Hispanic agency of record, based in Miami. At the end of 2010, we had 12 minority- and women-owned ABF suppliers.

Ford’s minority- and women-owned suppliers are also playing an important role in the company’s revitalized product line. These opportunities provided minority- and women-owned suppliers with new business valued at more than $150 million during a period when purchasing budgets and the supply base were being downsized.

Examples include the following:

• Dakkota Integrated Systems, a woman- and Native American- owned supplier based in Holt, Michigan, successfully launched fascias and headliners for the 2011 Ford Explorer, an all-new version of the vehicle that defined the SUV segment.
• GrupoAntolin Wayne, an African-American-owned supplier based in Canton, Michigan, launched interior headliners for the new Focus and was awarded headliner business for the C-Max.
• T&K Logistics, Inc., a woman-owned enterprise based in Northeast Ohio, is providing switching and yard management services to the Michigan Assembly Plant, utilizing the first application of zero emission electric switching vehicles in the automotive environment.
• Gonzalez Production Systems, a Hispanic-owned supplier, is expanding in Ford’s final manufacturing assembly area with its vision-aided robot technology. The company, based in Pontiac, Michigan, has won contracts for the next-generation Focus, as well as another product from Ford’s global C-car platform.
• Marimba Auto LLC, a new minority-owned supplier, based in Belleville, Michigan, sourced Super Duty axle tubes.
• Systrand Manufacturing, a women-owned supplier based in Brownstown, Michigan, provided critical component machining for Ford’s next generation hybrid transmission.