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Relations with Business Partners
Openness / Contribution to local communities
Toyota has taken an integrated approach to "making better cars" and providing "better services" with many business partners including suppliers and dealers. Business activities are ever more globalized, but we continue to share the Toyota principles and vision and "work with business partners in research and creation to achieve stable, long-term growth and mutual benefits, while keeping ourselves open to new partnerships." We build mutual trust with business partners in each region and contribute to the happiness of people working there as well as regional economic growth.
Basic Concept of Business Partners
To address various issues that come up in the course of business in a spirit of cooperation, along with our "Customer First" principle, contributing to society through automobile manufacturing and monozukuri, it is necessary to share these principles with our business partners. In addition to pursuing our normal CSR activities, Toyota is committed to achieve better quality related to safety and confidence for securing higher customer satisfaction in all areas, in unified cooperation with its business partners.
Collaboration with Suppliers
Since its establishment, Toyota has sought to work closely with its suppliers in its manufacturing activities. In good times and bad, Toyota and its suppliers face the same issues together and Toyota has built strong and close relationships with them based on the need for mutual support and a harmonious society.
As its business has expanded on a global scale, Toyota places even greater value on these close relationships, including relationships with new partners, as essential to its efforts to achieve higher customer satisfaction on every level.
Toyota's Basic Purchasing Policies
In order to ensure stable, long-term procurement of the best products at the lowest prices and in the most speedy and timely manner, Toyota believes that the most important task is the creation of relationships in which suppliers in various countries and regions and Toyota do business on an equal footing based on mutual respect, thus building firm bonds of trust and globally promoting mutual growth and development. Toyota's global purchasing activities are based on the following three basic policies: (1) fair competition based on an open-door policy; (2) mutual benefit based on mutual trust; and (3) contribution to local economic vitality through localization: good corporate citizenship.
Development and Deployment of the Toyota Supplier CSR Guidelines
Toyota believes in the importance of collaboration with suppliers in CSR activities and, towards that end, issued the Toyota Supplier CSR Guidelines in February 2009.
Toyota has held meetings in Japan to explain the guidelines to 1,100 suppliers and is steadily rolling out these guidelines for overseas suppliers as well. Toyota suppliers are asked to implement their own independent CSR activities based on the Toyota Supplier CSR Guidelines, and in turn expand their individual CSR policies and guidelines to their suppliers.
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CSR Study Meetings
Toyota, in collaboration with suppliers, holds CSR study meetings to promote suppliers' CSR activities.
In FY2010, CSR Study Meetings brought together some 340 suppliers to learn about compliance-related subjects including labor administration and workplace management, Competition Laws, confidential information and intellectual property management.
Toyota also participates in CSR activities in the supply chain through the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) overseas.
Major CSR Study Meetings in FY2010
| Date | Theme |
|---|---|
| Jul. 2010 | Confidential information and intellectual property management |
| Sept. 2010 | Labor compliance (labor administration and workplace management) |
| Nov. 2010 | Competition Laws (antitrust and subcontract laws), Export control management |
Global Suppliers Convention
The annual Toyota Global Suppliers Convention is held to convey Toyota's policies and approaches to its suppliers. The 2011 event drew 48 executives from 103 overseas suppliers and 353 Japanese companies. Toyota expressed its expectation of suppliers to work together toward "making better vehicles."
Suppliers honored with the Superior Quality Performance Award
Suppliers' CSR Activities
Toyota suppliers also voluntarily engage in various activities to promote CSR.
Main CSR Activities of Kyohokai and Eihokai (Supplier Associations)
- Voluntary workshops
- Hosting lectures by CSR experts
- Visit to CSR corporate leaders
A visit to CSR corporate leader sponsored by Kyohokai
Collaboration with Sales Networks
The sales network is the point of direct application of Toyota's "Customer First" principle. Toyota and dealers work as one to enhance customer satisfaction based on firm bonds of trust, close two-way communication, the superiority of Toyota products and services and shared value.
Relations with Dealers in Japan
Within Japan, Toyota has concluded contracts directly with approximately 290 dealers who operate 5,600 sales outlets including used car outlets. A fundamental principle for Toyota is "Customer First, Dealer Second, Manufacturer Third." Based on the "Customer First" policy, Toyota believes that dealer success, which ultimately means the growth of Toyota, is achieved by enhancing support of dealer initiatives to improve customer satisfaction through the implementation of PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, and Act) from the perspective of meeting customer and dealer expectations.
Lectures at Local Elementary Schools,'First Experience Project'
In collaboration with dealers who play an active part in communityrooted activities, Toyota started the First Experience Project that gives lectures at local elementary schools in 2008. As part of integrated study, science or social studies classes, we provide "First Experience Class Related to Cars" for fourth grade students and "Class to Fully Understand about Cars" for the fifth grade. With the theme of "learn in an enjoyable way while experiencing" about the mechanics and attractiveness of the car, and the relationship between the environment and economy, we have held classes using models and real cars, quizzes and board games. We gave lectures to 340 schools in 43 prefectures in FY2010. From FY2011, as part of dealer activities in harmony with the community, Toyota will strengthen its support system including training teachers and providing the manual for each class with the aim of setting up a dealer-led operation.
In addition, in FY2011, Toyota employees and dealers will jointly hold open classes in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima regions with a desire to cheer up children in the disaster stricken areas through the cars. What's more, Toyota is also planning to support dealers to hold the class at junior high schools.
First Experience Class Related to Cars
Class to Fully Understand about Cars
Dealers' CSR Activities
In 2005, the "Toyota National Dealers' Advisory Council (TNDAC) CSR Guidelines" were issued as a base of dealers' CSR activities. In 2006, the CSR Declaration was adopted at the TNDAC's annual general meeting. With three pillars of compliance, environmental responsiveness and social contribution, dealers have been working to increase the satisfaction of various stakeholders with the aim of becoming "a truly global enterprise that is respected by all peoples around the world.
" TNDAC's CSR activities are now in their sixth year. In FY2010, a self-auditing tool called the CSR Checklist system was upgraded in cooperation with Toyota to continuously enhance the activities. The council also held a CSR lecture with the theme of mental health with, about 400 representatives from dealers nationwide. Furthermore, the brochure of good practices was published based on the survey of each dealer's local contribution activities. TNDAC continually works at various areas to improve their CSR activities.
Relations with Dealers Overseas
Toyota's approximately 170 distributors and 8,000 dealers located overseas serve as its key partners in highlighting the appeal of Toyota vehicles to customers. In order to fully convey to customers the value of its products, Toyota engages in a variety of activities with its partners.
Children Draw Dream Cars Freely, 'TOYOTA Dream Car Art Contest'
Since 2004, Toyota has held the TOYOTA Dream Car Art Contest, targeting children under 16 years old, with the theme "Your Dream Car."
Until the fourth event in 2008, it covered 12 Asian nations, but from the fifth contest in 2010, the countries eligible for the contest was expanded. We held the National Contest in over 50 nations and regions including North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, China, Asia, Oceania, Middle East and Japan. Outstanding entries are selected in the National Contest, and the World Contest is held in Japan, where the Gold, Silver, Bronze Awards and Finalist are selected. This time, the famous manga artist, Akira Toriyama was invited as a special judge, and the Akira Toriyama Award and President Toyoda Award were also presented.
National contest held in China
The contest doesn't merely accept and judge works of art, but also hosts an event related to the contest in each participating nation. Educational materials such as paints and other artist's materials are also donated to children by the local Toyota entity. Toyota has received many voices of expectation for next contest in participated nations.
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Netz Toyota Nangoku (Kochi Prefecture): Last Event of New Employee Training
Program Is 'Barrier-Free Ohenro Pilgrimage'The Netz Toyota Nangoku in Kochi Prefecture was established as a Toyota Vista dealer in 1980, and has held the No.1 position regarding customer satisfaction among all Toyota dealers since 1999. Advisor Hidetake Yokota shares the dealer's secret: What's important is to create a company where employees are happy. If employees feel their jobs are rewarding and they have a pleasant workplace, they take pride in the organization, and try to provide service that really makes customers happy. Naturally, that kind of company will enjoy a high degree of customer satisfaction."
It has a unique program which emphasizes recruitment and new employee education based on its fundamental thought, "make all employees winners in their lives." The last event of its new employee training is a five-day "Barrier-Free Ohenro Pilgrimage." Each employee pairs with a person who is visually impaired or similarly disadvantaged and guides him or her to 88 sacred sites in the Shikoku region. New employees are often bewildered at first but soon come to realize the meaning of the word "barrier free" and understand the meaning of facing every customer or colleague as a human through these real experiences. Today many customers visit the Netz Toyota Nangoku where employees taking such training welcome them.
New employees take a trip with the visually impaired.
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Examples of Initiatives for Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction
(The Great East Japan Earthquake)Full Efforts on Early Reconstruction of Supply Chain
Over 600 suppliers including secondary ones were stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake, which inflicted immense damage across a broad area. As initiatives for reconstruction, we checked the supply possibility of all parts and components and allocated support groups to transport aid supplies, reconstruct facilities, procure mate - rials such as power generators and support production management.
Delivering Procured Water and Daily Commodities to Affected Areas by Utilizing Parts/Component Delivery Service System
Toyota requested dealers nationwide for support of the areas stricken by the quake for the first time. Bottled water which TOYOPET dealerships had individually stored for emergencies was collected and loaded in vacant spaces of trucks used to deliver parts and components. Aid supplies such as water, blankets and daily commodities provided by other Toyota dealers were collected at the Toyota Head Office and delivered to dealers stricken by the quake in Miyagi and Iwate prefectures and so forth via our secure transport routes.
Where supplies for quake victims are loaded and shipped (Toyota Loops)Supporting Dealers in Disaster Areas by Allocating Young Employees
Among about 850 outlets of 42 dealers in five prefectures (Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba), which suffered major damage from the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, about 450 were partially destroyed (of which 12 were completely demolished). With a view to the reconstruction of the stricken outlets, Toyota listened to the requests of local dealers and allocated its young employees bimonthly during the period from April to the end of May to provide physical support to assist the dealers in the affected areas. The support includes maintenance such as legal vehicle safety inspection, checks and general maintenance, delivery and washing of vehicles as well as related paperwork.