Kickstart: Can Toyota cash help its suppliers thrive?

Toyota Motor Corp. has come to the conclusion that its suppliers are under a lot of pressure and can use some some extra cash to improve workplace conditions and hire more people.

To which I say, you're just figuring this out now?

John Irwin and Naoto Okamura from our sister paper Automotive News report Toyota plans "to tap its record profits and share the wealth with suppliers so that strapped parts makers can keep up with the Japanese carmaker's breakneck sales and production pace."

Some 400 suppliers in Japan will be the first to benefit with higher prices set to go out starting April 1. Overseas suppliers may receive extra payments at a later time, they write.

The standard operating procedure in the auto industry is for automakers to seek annual cost cuts from suppliers, which is a reason why some processors avoid the auto industry and is a central complaint for companies at every tier level.

As someone who has watched the auto industry from the sidelines for several years, I think it's clear that continually cutting costs in the name of efficiency can only go so far. After a while, there's no more fat left to cut, and you're down to the bone.

Auto supplier Motherson may have started as a single plant in India, but it's grown into a global giant with 200,000 employees and 350 plants in 42 countries. Now its founder, Vivek Sehgal, has been named to the Automotive Hall of Fame, joining the 2024 inductees alongside Bill Ford, chairman of Ford Motor Co.

To be specific, Sehgal is a co-founder of the company based in Noida, India. He and his late mother, Shrimati Swaran Lata Sehgal, created the business together in 1975, hence its name.

After 20 years of growth in India, it acquired an electronics company in Ireland in 2002. In 2009, it entered the auto mirror business and became a global leader with the acquisition of Germany's Peguform — a $1.9 billion business — in 2011.

"In the last 20 years, the vision's been the same," Sehgal told PN's Steve Toloken during a 2015 interview. "It's all planned; it's thought out. We are ready for it."

At that time, Motherson was operating 1,500 injection molding machines across its holdings. Since then, it has acquired German auto supplier Dr. Schneider Group (in 2023) and Finland-based wiring harness supplier PKC Group (in 2017) while expanding production at existing sites.

Consolidation and reshoring are leading global business decisions in health care.

PN's Sarah Kominek looks at the medical megatrends following interviews and discussions at MD&M West in Anaheim, Calif., earlier this month. At the top of the list is being able to act quickly when needed.

"Risk mitigation is so important with the health care industry," said Kelly Wessner, general manager of Formerra Corp. "[Companies] are starting to anticipate the next challenge that we're going to face on a global basis."