Superior Tire & Rubber Corp. Achieves ISO 9001:2008 Certification

Superior Tire & Rubber Corp. has announced that it has achieved the ISO 9001:2008 certification, which underscores the company’s commitment to continuous improvement. Achieving this global standard complements the company’s vision of being the vendor of choice through technical excellence and innovation, by adding systems to improve quality and customer satisfaction.

“Our customers will benefit from the ISO certification through more consistently produced and higher quality products. Our customers will also receive greater value through formal systems to measure and improve customer satisfaction,” said Kevin Bidwell, Superior Tire & Rubber Corp’s Quality Manager.

During the past year, Superior Tire & Rubber Corp. underwent an evaluation process that included quality management system assessment, documentation review, pre-audit assessment, clearance of non-conformances and finally culminated in a six day registration audit by QMI-SAI Global, the original and largest registrar in North America.

The ISO 9001 standard is the most widely recognized quality management system framework in the world. The standard covers all aspects of an organization’s activities and is based on the eight Quality Management Principles, which are targeted to improve organizational performance.

Toyota associates spread holiday joy Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU) has announced that as a result of its associate giving programs, a half-ton of food and goods will be donated to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, along with food banks and philanthropies in the communities where Toyota associates live and work.

"Toyota associates in Columbus, Ind., and Irvine, Calif., have responded generously to our various corporate giving programs," said Brett Wood, president of TMHU. "As a result, the donations raised will provide food and essentials to many in need this holiday season."

Toyota has long supported associate giving programs, food bank and community-related contributions. At the beginning of 2010 in an effort to build associate morale and community support, the company created its "Denim for Dollars" program. Each month a national nonprofit organization is chosen to receive donations from TMHU’s associates. In exchange for a minimum $5 donation per participant, TMHU’s associates are eligible to wear jeans to work on the last Friday of the month. As a result of the year-long program, TMHU associates raised $4,000.

The benefiting charities include:

• American Red Cross: Haiti Relief and Development Effort
• Habitat for Humanity
• National Arbor Day Foundation
• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
• Homes for Our Troops
• The Humane Society of the United States
• Farm Aid
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure
• Feeding America
• Make-a-Wish Foundation of America

In addition to the "Denim for Dollars" program, TMHU held company-wide toy and food drives, which resulted in associates collecting 800 pounds of food to provide 613 meals to those in need at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, Calif., 338 pounds of food, equating to roughly 260 meals, and monetary donations to benefit the Love Chapel of Columbus, Ind., and nearly 100 toys to benefit Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Also, continuing in the company tradition, in lieu of printing holiday cards, Toyota will make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, an organization that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Hannah Howie, granddaughter of TMHU associate Cary Howie, is the winner of the company electronic holiday card contest. Howie’s coloring rendition of a Toyota lift truck helping deliver a holiday tree to a festive snowman is featured in the company’s holiday card, distributed nationwide to its customers, suppliers and associates.