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The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center (MMTC, Ann Arbor, MI) sponsored a meeting Oct. 12, 1999 in Troy, MI, to discuss the future of ISO 14001 in the automotive industry. The meeting occurred after Ford Motor Co. (Dearborn, MI) and General Motors Corp. (GM, Detroit) announced on Sept. 21 that they are requiring suppliers to become ISO 14001 certified during the next 2 to 3 years.
Ford is requiring suppliers to certify at least one manufacturing site to ISO 14001 by the end of 2001 and all manufacturing sites shipping products to Ford by July 1, 2003. The requirement affects about 5,000 of Ford's production and nonproduction suppliers with manufacturing facilities. Harold R. Kutner, GM group vice president of worldwide purchasing and North American production control and logistics, said, "It is our intent that all suppliers to General Motors implement an environmental management system by Dec. 31, 2002. We know our suppliers share the same concerns and will work with us...