Open Door Policy

By design, "accessibility" is the one word that best characterizes our corporate philosophy toward supplier diversity. Everyone involved in our program sits on the other side of an open door: from our Program Coordinator, who often introduces MBEs into our system, to the buyers who actually purchase goods and services from suppliers, to our President & CEO, who regularly visits many of our suppliers' facilities. Making ourselves readily available to MBEs and taking care to do the small things right such as returning phone calls promptly and answering questions thoroughly sends the message to MBEs that our ears and our minds, like our doors, are always open.

We are pleased that during the brief period of our program's existence, our planning process has given us the direction and focus to produce both the hard numbers that translate directly into new business for MBEs and the less quantifiable, but no less important, goodwill (public recognition, awards, etc.) that sets the stage for even greater future accomplishments.

It also bears saying that although we are pleased, we are not satisfied with our progress. Therefore, we have set for ourselves some very aggressive goals. The establishment of our North American manufacturing support office enables us to better coordinate the Supplier Diversity activities of our individual facilities and, we expect, to realize some potential synergies that simply went unnoticed before. Partnership, commitment, national scope, new initiatives and growth: these are the keys to the success of the Supplier Diversity Program at Toyota. Honestly, however, we prefer to think of them as mile markers along a highway called "continuous improvement". Perhaps it's because of the business we're in, but we've always believed that real success is a journey, not a destination.

Procedures

We are glad that you have taken an interest in our program.  The procedure for becoming a potential supplier to Toyota involves three simple steps.

 

1. Complete an online registration form at TOYOTASupplier.com and submit a copy of your M/WBE certification to us.
2. This step will take approximately 6-8 weeks.  During this step, we will review and confirm your information.  Upon successful review and confirmation of your information, we will add your company to our M/WBE database and supply you, via email, with details on selling to TEMA.  If there is an opportunity for your particular product or service, you will receive a direct contact on how to do business with Toyota.  Please be advised that our purchasing needs are often changing.  If there is no immediate need for your product or service area, we will maintain your registration on file and will contact you at the appropriate time.
3. The third and final step is using the information provided to you in step two and following up with your direct contact at TEMA to determine what current opportunities there are for your organization.

 

Opportunity Exchange

See the article listed in the Activities section of the website.