OESA News - Fourth Quarter - First Edition

Warner Legal Corner

Growing and Protecting IP

While Navigating a Fractured Supply Chain and Labor Shortages

Supply chain and labor issues seem to be a prickly part of manufacturing as of late – and they don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. However, it is crucial to keep a watchful eye on your intellectual property assets as you navigate today’s uncertain business environment. Here’s how:

1. Don’t make IP an afterthought. With a narrowed focus on getting products out the door quickly and profitably, IP quickly becomes an afterthought. Everything IP is time sensitive and waiting too long can jeopardize protecting your IP assets. A loss of focus on IP now, can surface many years down the road, which makes a current loss of focus on IP less detectable.

2. Secure your IP through employment agreements. Remind departing employees of obligations under previously executed employment agreements. And ensure new employees sign nondisclosure, non-compete and other confidentiality agreements to protect your trade secrets, including the assignment of rights. This can be overlooked in the excitement of attracting new talent – don’t let your excitement, or relief, overshadow best practices in protecting your IP assets.

3. Assess your products, processes and commercial activities early and often. Multiple protection mechanisms exist to protect your IP, including trade secrets, design patents, trade dress and trademarks – and what can be protected and how –varies. Key technical and manufacturing personnel must know how to identify what is protectable and protect it ASAP. Early identification and protection of IP assets provides leverage and mitigates risk.

4. Proactively manage competing interests across your supply chain. Address IP with suppliers and customers at the onset of a relationship and continue to monitor their IP. As you revisit your contractual relationships to deal with supply chain issues, consider IP and work to secure advantages moving forward.

For more information from Warner’s Automotive Industry Group, visit their webpage or log onto www.wnj.com.

ATTORNEY SPOTLIGHT

Paul Engel

Paul Engel is a Warner attorney who specializes in domestic and international intellectual property portfolio development and management – advising clients in the automotive, construction, energy, manufacturing, medical and software spaces to help drive innovative technologies to market.

Paul spent the first 10 years of his career in R&D and manufacturing as project leader, chemist, research scientist and production manager for Lear Corporation, Sika Corporation and Henkel. The commercial and technical experience he gained has provided a strong foundation for his contractual and intellectual property legal practice – counseling clients on various polymeric components and molding processes that are utilized in the formation of parts for the automotive supply industry.

Today, Paul works closely with automotive suppliers to ensure their intellectual property assets – both products and processes – are protected from conception to creation. He proactively works to avoid litigation pitfalls through drafting carefully-worded contractual agreements, such as employment and nondisclosure agreements, and provides key design and process input from the onset. He notes that the process to create a product is just as important as the product itself. He encourages automotive suppliers to build a focus on recognizing, evaluating and protecting innovations into their culture.

From development to sales, the automotive industry moves fast – and Paul enjoys the fast-paced nature of the industry. He supports and stands with in-house counsel, C-suite executives, manufacturing managers, engineers and others, helping to guide, protect and promote new technologies.

Paul is named among Michigan Super Lawyers’ Rising Stars, and is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Michigan Intellectual Property Law Association.

Check out Paul’s full bio here.

On Your

Behalf

Planning for the 2022 Automotive Supplier Conference continues and I am pleased to announce the names of some of the industry thought leaders and OEM executives that will be on the mainstage.

New York Times Bestselling author, Josh Linkner, will kick off the morning with an interactive discussion on innovation as a competitive edge.

OEM speakers from Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Honda, Rivian and Zoox will share their strategic plans:

Bruce Baumgartner, Vice President, Supply Chain, Quality & Reliability, Zoox

Steve Gawronski, Vice President, Supply Chain, Rivian

Tom Lake, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Honda Development and Manufacturing of America

Annie Liu, Executive Director, Purchasing, Ford Model e, Ford Motor Company

Alan Wexler, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Innovation, General Motors

This year’s industry outlook panel will focus on the Reality Check for 2030 and Beyond. Panelists include:

• Colin Langan, Automotive & Mobility Analyst, Wells Fargo

• Tim Mahedy, Senior Economist, KPMG LLC

• Joe McCabe, President and CEO, AutoForecast Solutions, LLC

New to the agenda will be four Ted talk-like “Industry Shorts” on a few of the industry’s hottest topics:

• An Update from D.C. by MEMA

• The New ESG Imperative by Bain & Company

• The New Worforce by Deloitte

• What’s Next for Automotive Semiconductors by the Boston Consulting Group

The focus of this year’s conference is on the opportunities and challenges of future of the automotive industry: The Future is Calling…How Will You Answer? We are looking forward to you joining us and the more than 600 industry professionals registered to attend on Monday, November 7, 2022 at the Suburan Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich.

As always, please feel free to contact me at 248.430.5963 or jfream@oesa.org.

Julie A. Fream President and CEO OESA

OESA EVENTS

Volkswagen Town Hall

Oct. 5 | Noon - 4 p.m. | Laurel Manor, MI

OESA members are invited to attend the 13th Annual OESA Members-Only Volkswagen Town Hall Meeting on October 5, 2022. This in-person event is a unique opportunity to hear updates directly from Volkswagen procurement and engineering leadership teams and to meet in person with commodity buyers.

Inga von Seelen, senior vice president Purchasing, Volkswagen of America, Inc., will share a North American organization update, as well as provide information on stabilization and digitalization in the supply chain, and Volkswagen’s BEV transition. Shaquanta Locke, manager, Supplier Diversity, will also give an update on Volkswagen Supplier Diversity.

Following the Volkswagen update, von Seelen and Locke will be joined by Joel Karlsberg, director, interior commodity, and additional Volkswagen executives, for the Q&A panel moderated by Julie A. Fream, president and CEO, OESA. Additional Volkswagen executives will be added in the coming weeks.

Upon conclusion of the formal meeting, attendees will have the opportunity to network with Volkswagen commodity buyers. A list of commodity areas will be made available.

Industry Sponsor:

OESA members and industry guests may register for OESA events at www.oesa.org

For registration assistance, contact OESA at 248.952.6401 or info@oesa.org.

Raw Materials Summit: Material Advantage

Oct. 13 | 8 a.m. - Noon | OESA Conference Center, Southfield, MI

OESA invites industry executives, analysts, and purchasing and strategy professionals to attend the annual OESA 2022 Raw Materials Summit: Material Advantage on Thursday, October 13, 2022. It will be held at the OESA Conference Center in Southfield, Mich.

The program is structured to provide suppliers with a robust materials market outlook, as well as a legal review of contracting safeguards and an understanding of material cost management tools and strategies. Gain detailed insights to manage risk including price drivers as well as sourcing shifts and market impacts on a broad range of raw materials in a dynamic session.

Empower your organization with actionable takeaways, as experts share detailed analyses on materials from base metals to the energy and petrochemical sector along with rare earths and technology metals.

This annual summit features industry insiders including Peter Nagle, senior research analyst, S&P Global Mobility and Edwin Pope, principal analyst, S&P Global Mobility. Nagle will review the current commodity pricing environment, highlighting the latest forecasts considering ongoing supply chain constraints and shifting sourcing patterns. Pope will highlight the raw material landscape in North America versus global demand trends and regional applications with a focus on divergent supply risks.

Learn from raw materials experts, Terry Glass, vice president, Polymers, Argus Media and Mark Seddon, senior manager, Metals Consulting, Argus Media. Glass will review prospects for key raw material feedstocks coming from crude oil with a focus on the outlook for polypropylene and nylon. Seddon will discuss the supply of materials involved in battery construction including Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel and others along with an update on semiconductor dynamics.

The session will conclude with compelling insights from Daniel Bonucchi, associate, Warner Norcross + Judd. Bonucchi will highlight legal best practices for raw materials and supply chain contracts including the leading edge of indexing as the industry races toward electrification.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions of and network with the presenters.

Series Sponsor:

OESA EVENTS

Automotive Tooling Update

Oct. 25 | 12:30 - 4:30 p.m. | Laurel Manor, Livonia, MI

OESA and Harbour Results Inc. are pleased to host the 2022 Automotive Tooling Update on Oct. 25, 2022, at the Laurel Manor in Livonia, Mich. Automotive tooling executives from supplier companies, OEM purchasing, sales, marketing and engineering professionals in the automotive mold and die industries should plan to attend.

This annual event brings automotive tooling professionals together with industry experts to discuss supply chain and labor challenges, the production outlook and unique opportunities for tooling manufacturers to put their organizations in the best position for success.

Industry experts lending insight include Cara Walton, director, Harbour Results, Inc. (HRI), who will share an update on the current economy and its impact on the manufacturing industry. Joe McCabe, president and CEO, AFS, will share an automotive industry forecast to help executives prepare their companies for future production demands.

Scott Walton, CFO, Harbour Results, Inc. will share insight on what we learned from COVID and where we go from here. Laurie Harbour, president and CEO, HRI, will discuss the forecast of the tooling industry and automotive supply chain implications.

The event will also include a forward-looking presentation on EVs and the impact on the suppliers. Mike Canales, director of Supply Chain Resiliency, General Motors Global Purchasing and Supply Chain, will present and participate in the final Q&A session.

The event will also feature two Q&A portions as well as a reception following the presentations.

Executive Sponsors:

Supporting Sponsors:

Exhibitors:

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Today A2MAC1 works with clients beyond automotive serving the agriculture, construction, household appliances, and more. The recent acquisition of effution brings unique capabilities that will enrich A2MAC1’s one-stop-shop Benchmarking SaaS (Software as a Service) platform, supplement its 360° vehicle insights, and accelerate the creation of novel software costing tools.

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OESA members and industry guests may register for OESA events at www.oesa.org

For registration assistance, contact OESA at 248.952.6401 or info@oesa.org

Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability Council

OESA’s Environmental, Health, Safety, and Sustainability (EHS&S) Council covers many of the important issues EHS&S practitioners face every day. Recent topics include sustainability updates from major OEMs, safety and testing requirements for EVs, MIOSHA updates, ESG reporting, and government updates on SEC Disclosures and PFAS/PFOA.

With such a wide range of professionals in the group, each council meeting strives to cover the most relevant topics for the entire group. We are always looking for speakers and topics that address common areas of concern.

As we end the year, our final meeting will focus on Scienced-Based Targets for Carbon Reductions, why DEI matters in your ESG reporting, and a deep dive into our ESG Survey results.

The final meeting of the year will take place on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, from Noon to 4 p.m. at the OESA Conference Center in Southfield, MI, and on Zoom.

For those interested in attending our upcoming meeting in November, or a meeting in 2023, please reach out to Erin Schrieber, Senior Manager, Membership Retention and Development, and EHS&S Council Facilitator at eschrieber@oesa.mema.org

Welcome the newest OESA members

ABM Industries

One Liberty Plaza New York, NY 10006 www.abm.com

Member Representative: John Starkweather, National Director, EV & Auto Manufacturing

Alternate Representative: Wonjun Jang, Sales/Development Senior Specialist

Argus Media

2929 Allen Parkway, Suite 700 Houston, TX 77019 www.argusmedia.com/en

Member Representative: Karen Ross, Global Operations Manager

Alternate Representative: Carlos Garcia, VP of Sales

AJ Rose 38000 Chester Rd. Avon, OH 44011 www.ajrose.com

Member Representative: Thomas Pritchard, Sales Engineer

Alternate Representative: Terry Sweeny, VP of Sales

Asening North America

8907 Sycamore Trail Sylvania, OH 43560 www.asensing.com

Member Representative: Stephen Ciucci, Managing Director

Alternate Representative: Jackie Yuan, Director, System Integration Engineering

OESA MEMBERSHIP

Welcome the newest OESA members (cont.)

Auria

26999 Central Park Blvd., Suite 300 Southfield, MI 48076 www.auriasolutions.com

Member Representative: Julie Noyes, Director of Communications & Marketing

Alternate Representative: Tony Daines, Vice President of Sales, North America

GPX Intelligence

620A S. Elm St. Greensboro, NC 27406 www.gpx.co

Member Representative: David Cavise, Chief Executive Officer

Alternate Representative: Gabe Weeks, VP Strategy & Planning

JOYSONQUIN Automotive Systems NA, LLC

1301 W. Long Lake Rd. Troy, MI 48098 www.joysonquin.com

Member Representative: Michael Plocher, President & Managing Director

Alternate Representative: Joe Lendo, CFO

Solero Technologies

2114 Austin Ave. Rochester Hills, MI 48309 www.solerotech.com

Member Representative: Thomas Villerot, Vice President, Sales

CTS Corporation

30445 Northwestern Hwy, Suite 280 Farmington Hills, MI 48334 www.CTSCorp.com

Member Representative: Scott Smith, Director of Sales

Alternate Representative: Patrizia D'Aloisio, Vice President of Sales

Hanwha Azdel

2000 Enterprise Dr. Firest, VA 24551 www.azdel.com

Member Representative: Sam Messina, Director of Automotive Sales

Alternate Representative: Wendell Martin, Marketing & OEM Business Manager

Samsung SDI America

4121 North Atlantic Blvd. Auburn Hills, MI 48326 www.samsungsdi.com

Member Representative: Evan Bartley, Associate General Counsel

Alternate Representative: Joseph Pittel, General Counsel

Alternate Representative: Jason Hartley, Senior Manager, Sales For OESA

information, contact:

Steve Horaney

Vice President, Membership and Sales 248.430.5969 shoraney@oesa.org

Erin Schrieber

Senior Manager, Membership Recruitment and Development 248.430.5970 eschrieber@oesa.org

Adam Slaman

Senior Manager, Sponsorship Sales and Membership Development 248.430.5958 aslaman@oesa.org

AUTOMOTIVE INSIDERS...LISTEN NOW

OESA and automotive industry expert Jason Stein have joined forces to present the Automotive Insiders hosted by Jason Stein podcast. It covers a broad-range of industry topics and trends that are impacting the future of automotive.

The podcast is available on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Stitcher, and Pandora. New episodes are featured weekly.

To subscribe and listen, click here.

OESA EVENTS

Upcoming Events:

Oct. 5 Oct. 13 Oct. 25 Nov. 7

Volkswagen Town Hall

Raw Materials Summit: Material Advantage

Harbour Results Inc Automotive Tooling Update

Automotive Supplier Conference

Upcoming 2022 OESA Town Hall Meetings

Mark your calendar for the Members-Only OEM Town Hall Meetings.

Volkswagen Town Hall

Nov. 29

Upcoming Council Meetings:

Oct. 6 Oct. 11 Oct. 12 Oct. 13 Oct. 19 Oct. 20 Oct. 27

Ford Town Hall - Registration info coming soon!

Emerging Leadership Council

Legal Issues Council

Automotive Public Relations Council

Young Leadership Council Alumni

Advanced Technology Council

Young Leadership 9 Council

Human Resources Council

OESA News - 2022 Second Quarter │ 9 Oct. 5

If this wasn’t a wakeup call for the auto industry, nothing would be.

First came the COVID-19 pandemic and then, to a degree its by-product, the semiconductor shortage crisis. The result: in 2021 and 2022, about 10% of projected global auto output vanished.

BY JUSTIN AHMAD, RAJESH SHETTY, WOLFGANG SCHNELLBÄCHER, EREMY KAY, AND GERRY FEIGIN

From our work with auto OEMs and suppliers, several supply chain shortcomings by auto companies made it difficult to navigate these twin disruptions. First, supply chain systems and management practices have long favored optimization and focused on making supply chains as lean as possible while simultane ously pressuring suppliers to bring down costs and invento ry. In the process, companies neglected to set up systems that sufficiently anticipate, detect and respond in an agile fashion to aberrant events. For instance, news about chip shortages began to surface as early as the second quarter of

2020, but automakers did not even begin to implement strategic responses for another two to three quarters.

Another problem, the lack of end-to-end supply chain visibility. Supply chains have become so diffuse that automakers are frequently unable to identify upstream suppliers beyond their Tier 1s, much less their manufacturing locations, lead times, the parts or materials they supply and their production and shipment track records. That knowledge gap stymied response efforts and factory planning resulting in auto companies spending significant time early in the

crisis simply trying to unravel the layers of their supply chains.

Given the impact that supply chain woes have had on auto volumes in the last couple of years, auto industry executives are increasingly sounding the alarm for new methods to anticipate supply chain risk across the supplier spectrum and ensure that the availability of critical parts, commodities and materials is not imperiled. And to some degree, the renewed urgency to implement supply chain risk sensing and response programs is buoyed by the accelerating shift from ICEs to BEVs, which is reshap

Please visit the full publication here

ing the supply landscape, adding many new suppliers and types of components.

To facilitate this essential change, BCG has developed a targeted but holistic framework that insulates against risk, identifies imminent problems and responds quickly when a risk event occurs. This approach encompasses a company’s operating model, including executive metrics and score cards, planning processes, risk modeling, contingency planning, information flows and intelli gence gathering and collabora tion across the supply chain.

Original Equipment Suppliers Association

25925 Telegraph Rd., Ste. 350 │Southfield, MI 48033-2553 248.952.6401 │oesa.org │info@oesa.org

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April Buford Executive Director, Marketing & Communications 248.430.5964 abuford@oesa.org

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