The 2012 Supplier Quality Award was formally presented to The Oakwood Group management team on November 15, 2012 by David Little, GM Manager – Supplier Quality; Adam Rada, Supplier Quality Engineer; and Rich Ulman, Supplier Quality Engineer. This is the first year for this award which will now become an annual prize.

Tom McMillen, GM Executive Director, Supplier Quality & Program Management had previously announced that The Oakwood Group had earned this honor which recognizes SafetyPlastic®. SafetyPlastic is used extensively by GM as a countermeasure for FMVSS201 and FMVSS214. Suppliers are rated by all GM functional groups, including: quality , engineering and purchasing. Only 7% of GM suppliers earn this award.

GM noted that Oakwood’s PPM was less than one with over three million parts shipped in the past year. PPM is a quality measurement. Less than one PPM means that Oakwood had less than one quality problem for every million parts shipped.

Dick Audi, president of The Oakwood Group, received the award and noted how proud he was of the Oakwood team, including its sales, manufacturing, customer service, quality, and engineering. Mr. Audi mentioned Oakwood’s success in winning quality awards for both its SafetyPlastic and metal speaker grille products as was especially pleased to receive this recognition from General Motors.

SafetyPlastic energy absorbers produce optimal force-deflection reactions to dynamic impacts. These patented products reduce head impact (HICd) test scores when tested in automotive test labs. SafetyPlastic uses an optimized thermoformed plastic geometry to obtain better safety test results when tested to US federal government standards.