Bridgewater Interiors Wins Largest Minority Contract Ever Awarded By Ford
WARREN, Mich., March 8 -- In a ribbon-cutting ceremony held at its newest manufacturing plant, officials of Bridgewater Interiors LLC today announced that the firm has earned the largest contract ever awarded to a minority-owned firm by Ford Motor Company.
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The agreement with Ford calls for Bridgewater Interiors to supply automotive seat systems for the F-150 pickup trucks built at Ford's Dearborn Assembly Plant in Dearborn, Michigan, as well as the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models produced at the automaker's Michigan Truck Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan. The contract, valued at more than $500 million annually, is believed to be the largest contract between an automaker and a minority supplier in automotive history.
Bridgewater Interiors is a joint venture between automotive supplier Johnson Controls and Epsilon LLC of Detroit, and is a Minority Business Enterprise certified by the Michigan Minority Business Development Council. Since its establishment in 1998, Bridgewater Interiors has produced seating and interior systems for major automakers in North America. It has been regularly ranked by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the nation's largest African-American-owned companies.
"The opportunity to build complete seat systems for three of Ford's most popular vehicles is not only a great leap forward for Bridgewater Interiors, but a milestone in the history of minority supplier development," said Ron Hall, president and chief executive officer of Bridgewater Interiors. "This contract recognizes the dedication and hard work our entire team has put into meeting the quality and performance standards of our customer. Bridgewater Interiors appreciates Ford's confidence in what we have achieved."
Bridgewater Interiors will build the seat systems in Warren, Michigan, at a 265,000-square-foot manufacturing plant it opened in December 2003. The plant is a renovated and reconfigured facility previously used by Johnson Controls for other manufacturing operations. It is situated on the grounds of the former Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, near Van Dyke Avenue, between 11 Mile and 12 Mile roads. The tank plant closed in 1996. The property is designated as one of the State of Michigan's 11 Renaissance Zones: tax-free districts designed to encourage business development in distressed urban and rural areas. The plant is expected to employ approximately 600 people when it reaches full production later this year.
"With this contract, we pass a milestone, not only for Ford Motor Company, Bridgewater Interiors and Johnson Controls, but for our industry as a whole," said Tony Brown, vice president - Global Purchasing, Ford Motor Company. "Every advancement made by a minority supplier from this point on will build on this foundation."
Ford awarded operational responsibility for its Expedition and Navigator seating programs to Johnson Controls in 2003. Prior to that, production of the vehicles' second-and third-row seats had been produced in Chesterfield Township, Michigan and Johnson Controls had produced front-row seats in Plymouth, Michigan. Johnson Controls transferred all of the work to the Bridgewater Interiors plant in Warren.
Also in 2003, Ford awarded Bridgewater Interiors the seating program for the F-150 pickup trucks to be built at its historic Rouge Complex in Dearborn. Production of seats for that model is scheduled to begin mid-year 2004.
Ford has been an industry leader in the advancement of minority supplier development programs since the 1970s. Ford purchased $3.2 billion in goods and services from nearly 300 minority suppliers in 2003. Through its second tier sourcing program, which encourages Ford's tier one suppliers to establish their own minority programs, Ford influenced another $1.2 billion in minority supplier revenue. In 2003, Ford was named Corporation of the Year by DiversityInc.Com magazine and was recognized by many other organizations for its leading role in supplier diversity development.
Johnson Controls has achieved several milestones in supplier diversity initiatives. In fiscal year 2002, Johnson Controls purchased more than $1 billion from minority- and women-owned businesses, and in 2003 was named to the Billion Dollar Roundtable, joining Ford Motor Company as one of only 12 U.S. corporations that have reached this level. In October 2003, Johnson Controls was named "Corporation of the Year" by the National Minority Supplier Development Council, an award that is regarded as the highest recognition a corporation can receive for conducting business with minority-owned firms. The company also was named "Corporation of the Year" by the Tennessee Minority Supplier Development Council in 2002 and by the Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council six times in the last eight years.
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