TORRANCE, California, Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Fifteen distinguished suppliers to American Honda Motor Co., Inc. have received the 2014 Premier Partner Award from American Honda President & CEO Takuji Yamada today in a special ceremony and reception at the Torrance Marriott South Bay Hotel in Torrance, CA. This year’s recipients were selected from a pool of more than 1,000 eligible companies based on excellence in quality, value and customer service that defines Honda’s philosophy and reputation.

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Premier Partner Award winners play a unique role in supporting Honda businesses and operations, including Honda and Acura automobiles, automobile engines and transmissions, Honda all-terrain vehicles, power equipment products, general purpose engines, and the HondaJet advanced light jet. Nine of the 15 recipients are repeat winners. This year’s class of suppliers includes a number of small businesses and minority-owned businesses.

“Amid record sales and continued strength across Honda companies, we are asking our suppliers to renew their commitment to exceptional quality and service,” said Charles Harmon, American Honda’s senior manager of procurement and corporate services. “We thank the outstanding organizations recognized today for answering that call and helping Honda to deliver on our own promise to our customers.”

2014 American Honda Premier Partner Award recipients include:

• Accenture, LLP, for providing sales incentive management and reporting solutions.
• ADP Lightspeed, for providing business management solutions.
• Atlantic Container Line, for providing international transporting services.
• BI Worldwide, for the development and execution of customer engagement programs.
• CH2M Hill, for providing facility management and administrative services.
• Delta Air Lines, Inc., for creating specific travel lanes and lowering prices on our most trafficked destinations.
• flexis North America, Inc., for designing systems that balance dealer requests against production volumes.
• Maritz Inc., for creating in-dealership launch training programs.
• OC Tanner Recognition Company, for developing the Associate Service Award Recognition Program, integrating elements of the Honda brand, mission and values.
• Pacific Technology Solutions, for E-learning and enterprise level software development solutions.
• Resource One, for serving as our recycling management resource and embracing Honda’s zero landfill initiative.
• RMI International Inc., a provider of physical security services at facilities nationally.
• Sinclair Printing Company, for printing and delivery of informational materials in our vehicles.
• Targetbase, for marketing strategy and consultation, and the development and management of customer databases.
• Urban Science, for developing online systems that support customer retention.

Supporting Small Businesses and Supplier Diversity
Honda desires to establish long-term relationships with suppliers based on trust and mutual benefit, and with a commitment to diversity. Working alongside minority supplier development councils and the Small Business Administration, diversity workshops educate potential ethnic minority and women-owned suppliers on Honda business operations. The workshops facilitate strategic alliances and joint ventures, and assist with loan and venture capitalization, empowerment programs and other available resources. In June, 2014 Honda joined 25 corporations for a discussion with President Obama about strengthening small business suppliers by supporting initiatives like increasing working capital, so they can grow their businesses and hire more workers.

About Honda
Honda established operations in America in 1959 and now employs nearly 40,000 associates in its North American sales, R&D and manufacturing operations with total capital investment in North America exceeding $22 billion.

Based on its longstanding commitment to “build products close to the customer,” Honda operates 16 major manufacturing facilities in North America producing a wide range of Honda and Acura automobiles, automobile engines and transmissions, Honda all-terrain vehicles, power equipment products, such as lawn mowers, mini-tillers and general purpose engines, and the HondaJet advanced light jet.

Eight Honda auto plants in the region, including four in the U.S., have the capacity to produce 1.92 million automobiles each year. In 2013, more than 94 percent of the Honda and Acura automobiles sold in the U.S. were produced in North America. Those plants today manufacture 11 different models, including four passenger cars and seven light trucks using domestic and globally sourced parts. A fifth U.S. auto plant, the Performance Manufacturing Center, is under construction in Marysville, Ohio, and next year will become the exclusive global production location for the next generation Acura NSX supercar.

Honda also operates 16 major research and development centers in the U.S. with the capacity to fully design, develop and engineer many of the products Honda produces in North America.