Johnson Controls Tops $1 Billion in Purchases from Diverse Suppliers; is Named To Billion Dollar Roundtable
Diversity Purchasing Milestone Achieved One Year Ahead of Schedule
MILWAUKEE, May 15 -- Johnson Controls has achieved its previously announced goal to spend $1 billion a year with diverse suppliers a year sooner than it expected.
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The company's supplier diversity success was recognized last night at a ceremony in New York where Johnson Controls was named to the Billion Dollar Roundtable, an organization comprised of the 12 U.S. corporations that spend more than $1 billion annually with minority- and women-owned businesses.
"This is a significant achievement. Our strategies to include a wider range of diverse suppliers across all our businesses have been successful," said Larry Alles, Johnson Controls vice president of corporate global procurement. "Our customers serve an increasingly diverse consumer base, so we are convinced that our supplier diversity initiatives are a key competitive advantage, helping us win new business, retain customers and reinforce the Johnson Controls brand."
Johnson Controls defines diverse suppliers as companies that are owned by minorities, women and those that are designated by government agencies as small or disadvantaged businesses. The company currently has more than 1,100 diverse suppliers.
"This achievement reflects our success in unifying, strengthening and expanding a company-wide strategy based on supplier diversity best practices," said Reginald Layton, Johnson Controls director of diversity business development.
Johnson Controls purchased goods and services valued at more than $1.02 billion from diverse suppliers in fiscal 2002. This figure is expected to increase by an additional $50 million in 2003. In the year 2001, the company announced a commitment to reach the billion dollar milestone by the end of 2003.
Under its Diversity Supplier Development program, Johnson Controls established practices to:
-- Report all diversity supplier effort results directly to the Chief
Executive Officer;
-- Include diverse suppliers in acquisitions/divestitures, lead supplier
arrangements, joint ventures and strategic alliances;
-- Implement standardized internal processes for recruiting, training and
utilizing diverse suppliers nationwide;
-- Expand a successful mentor/protege program for customers and key
suppliers throughout the United States;
-- Adopt Web-based systems that provide business opportunities to diverse
suppliers, measure performance, and promote diversity-oriented business
solutions to customers;
-- Strengthen mandates requiring existing Johnson Controls suppliers to
offer solutions supporting supplier diversity.
To celebrate achieving the billion-dollar purchasing goal and the tenth anniversary of its supplier diversity program, Johnson Controls will host its Supplier Diversity Showcase this June in Milwaukee. The educational event, attended by customers, suppliers and national diversity business development officials, will highlight examples of the company's best business practices. Topics to be covered include the increasing diversity of domestic consumer markets, commercialization of minority business development, joint ventures, financial assistance programs and more. The event will also feature a trade show where diverse firms with national capabilities will meet with Johnson Controls purchasing teams and supplier diversity process owners.
Presenters include Johnson Controls CEO John Barth, Johnson Controls board member and former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, Johnson Controls board member Willie Davis and National Minority Supplier Development Council President Harriet R. Michel. Ralph Moore, a leading supplier diversity consultant, will moderate.
In recent years, Johnson Controls has been recognized as an industry leader in diversity and in supporting minority-owned companies. Last year, the company was honored as "Corporation of the Year" by the Tennessee Minority Supplier Development Council (TMSDC). It has been honored as "Corporation of the Year" five times by the Michigan Minority Business Development Council (MMBDC). MMBDC and TMSDC are voluntary organizations with more than 2,500 members, which work to create links between major corporations and minority businesses.
The Billion Dollar Roundtable, founded in 2001, promotes minority and women business development by exploring opportunities for increasing corporate purchasing from diverse suppliers, sharing best practices, addressing common business issues and challenges, and providing critical insights on sustaining current diversity spending levels. The Roundtable members are Altria Group, AT&T, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Lucent Technologies, SBC Communications, Verizon Communications and Wal-Mart. Billion Dollar Roundtable member corporations collectively purchased more than $19.6 billion on products and services from diverse suppliers in 2002.
Johnson Controls is a global market leader in automotive systems and facility management and control. In the automotive market, it is a major supplier of integrated seating and interior systems, and batteries. For non- residential facilities, Johnson Controls provides control systems and services including comfort, energy and security management. Johnson Controls , founded in 1885, has headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its sales in fiscal 2002 totaled $20.1 billion. For additional information, visit www.johnsoncontrols.com .
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