SPI Newsletter

QUARTER ONE 2023

SPI NEWSLETTER MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT BUSINESS UPDATE; VP OF SUPPLY CHAIN SUMMIT EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT POSITIVE LEADERSHIP

VOLUME 1 Q1 2023

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Happy 2023 to our outstanding Summit Workforce across the globe!

We celebrated 50 years of success in 2022 with a promise to continue Summit’s commitment to customer and operational excellence.

The only way that can be achieved is through the dedication and effort exemplified by our extraordinary employees. I am extremely proud to be part of a global organization that has talented teams working tirelessly to accomplish our strategic goals and objectives.

Despite challenging times across the automotive industry in recent years, Summit has managed through the adversity and emerged on the other side even stronger than we were before. Please take comfort in the fact that our Leadership Team is very optimistic and excited about our short and long-term outlook. Summit is positioned well with our current customer base, and we look forward to expanding our global footprint to support continued growth.

In order to realize the business results we have targeted for the organization, I have emphasized that 2023 needs to be a year in which we get “Back To The Basics.” This is something that every single Summit team-member (whether you’re in the US, Mexico, China or Vietnam) can influence. Our leaders will be driving important initiatives that will optimize our efficiencies and effectiveness across all functional areas: Operations, Engineering, Sales, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance/IT, HR/EHS. Summit Polymers is very proud of the fact our plants demonstrate exceptional teamwork by exceeding customer expectations on a daily basis. It is because of YOU that we are recognized as one of the top suppliers in the automotive industry.

On behalf our Leadership Team I want to express our gratitude and appreciation for your on-going continuous improvement efforts related to productivity, safety, quality, delivery, and cost—I look forward to an excellent 2023!

ANDREA HAAS

Chris Johnson, QE, P1

Chris has proven depth, maturity, and experience as indicated by his willingness and ability to mentor young quality engineers, make good quality decisions, and serve as the interim quality manager in the quality manager's absence.

Kayla Denman, Quality Supervisor, P3 Kayla was offered and accepted the Quality Supervisor position.

Although Kayla has been with Summit for only a year, she has impressed everyone with her strong work ethic and quality work.

Shannon Isaac, QE, P6 Shannon has held a variety of positions during her time at SPI but was most recently promoted to Quality Systems Engineer. In the past 10 months, she has brought the Quality system at P06 back to the standard, mentored new members of the Quality Department and filled in for the Quality Manager in his absence

Will Webb, Machine Operator, P8 Will shows up to work every day with a great attitude. He excels in his job, has a great personality, and perfect attendance!!

Tina Grabowski, Machine Operator, P9 Tina comes to work with a can-do attitude every day. She has amazing attendance and goes above and beyond in everything she does. Tina is a great team player, we are lucky to have her!

Bu Ju Jian, Molding Supervisor, P13 Bu Jun Jian joined P13 in 2007 as the manufacturing intern and was promoted in 2008 to a Molding Supervisor. He is dedicated and fully engaged during his daily work. As the senior Molding Supervisor, he developed the newcomers and supervisors, made a great contribution to the team development.

Angel Pinales, ME, P15 Angel Pinales has been working on design & process development for molding EOAT´s. He works on new projects with a positive attitude, and works proactively with the maintenance, manufacturing and tooling departments. His efforts are reflected helping to improve plant indicators.

I grew up in metro Detroit and received my bachelor’s degree from The University of Michigan in Industrial and Operations Engineering and then my master’s degree in Engineering Management.

For my first couple of assignments after college I was doing what Summit Polymers would call SLMS Engineering, but then I landed in Supplier Development Engineering. That started my career progression on the Procurement pathway, and it has remained there ever since. I have spent the last 25 years at different Tier 1 automotive powertrain systems suppliers (BorgWarner, Eaton, Dana and Meritor).

Prior to hiring into Summit Polymers, I spent 11 years with Meritor (formerly Rockwell and ArvinMeritor) leading the North and South American Procurement organization for their Commercial Vehicle Systems division.

It’s difficult for me to believe that it has already been almost two years since I started at Summit Polymers and moved my family to the Kalamazoo area. Starting a new supply chain job in the middle of the COVID pandemic proved to be challenging for many reasons. There were obviously a lot of raw material shortages we were managing. There were supplier bankruptcies also. The most difficult part, however, was the fact that not everyone was in person in the office for my first couple of months. Zoom meeting fatigue was a real thing and I was enthusiastic when everyone got back to the office in mid-June 2021.

The Summit Polymers Corporate Purchasing and Materials team includes the following functions that support our Global Operations: Purchasing – Quoting, Sourcing and Launching Suppliers (Key KRAs: Cost Reduction, Supplier Delivery, RFQ timeliness), Materials Systems - Supporting Plant Materials as a Center of Excellence (Key KRAs: Material Systems Audits, KBPD Gate Reviews, Inventory Days on Hand), Supplier Development Engineering – Monitoring and Improving Supplier Performance (Key KRAs: Supplier Incidences, PPAP timeliness, Supplier Delivery), Logistics – Improving Freight Costs and Managing our Warehouse Operations (Key KRAs: Freight Cost, Inventory Days on Hand, Truckload Utilization).

I spent my first several months with Summit Polymers visiting all North American manufacturing sites and getting feedback on what the Corporate Purchasing and Materials teams were doing well and what could be improved. This feedback allowed me to understand several themes that have been prioritized for our team: Systems Refinement & Process Automation, Global Commodity Strategies – emphasis on soft trim and stampings, Improving Supplier Launch Performance and Localization of Supply in Mexico.

Heading into 2023 and beyond, our Corporate Purchasing and Materials team is focused on finding sustainable cost reductions from our supply base, supporting new program launches, optimizing our inventory and freight costs, and improving and simplifying our many materials systems.

Kris Tewkesbury – Vice President of Purchasing and Supply Chain

Cliff Jiang, Engineering Manager, P16 Cliff joined Summit on May 12, 2012, from QE to ME, to LC, and then to EM, Cliff was the 1st backbone force to support the establishment of Summit plant 16. Cliff now serves as head of Engineering Department, he leads a team who provides in time response to production needs by identifying opportunities for improvement, innovation and articulating the ways to solve the problems.

Filiberto Laguna, Forklift Driver, P17 Filiberto has a great attendance record, meets 100% of his responsibilities in receiving area, works and collaborates with other departments. His service attitude is excellent. Filiberto is committed to plan work requirements and safety internal rules.

Josh Borton, Assembly Utility, P18 Josh comes in daily to get his job done and support his team members as needed so we meet our goals. Josh is an asset to his team and to Summit Polymers Plant 18. No matter what is asked of him, he is open minded and more than willing to go above and beyond for us to be successful. If there's a better way to meet the goal Josh will communicate that to us all and continue striving for us to satisfy our customers.

To Huy Du, Assembly Supervisor, P19 Du is an enthusiastic colleague who is always looking for improvement opportunities in his department. He identified an ergonomic kaizen on S650 to help operators assemble the knob without straining their wrists and reduce CT by 1 second .

Michelle Owens, QE, P20 Michelle has stepped up to help multiple plants and corporate quality to complete projects and provide support.

Dawn Schouwburg, Corporate Finance MGR, TC & DB Dawn leads our global finance team with positivity and dedication. She is constantly recognizing and thanking others. In 2022, Dawn submitted the most “Kudos” on our Kudo board. She brings 36 years of SPI knowledge to our finance department and is huge asset to the team.

Positive Leadership Reminders 1. Commit to a 1% positive change each and every day 2. Be a net positive influencer and energizer for your team 3. Be a Team-Player that: · Engages and motivates employees · Inspires people · Builds a culture defined by collaboration and commitment.

We did it again!

GM Supplier of the Year