After 27 years with Toyota, Dave Mimms looks forward to new challenges and opportunities in working with AIAG members, potential members, and industry partners in the southeast United States.
SOUTHFIELD, Michigan, February 6, 2018 – The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) announces the addition of Dave Mimms, former general manager, quality strategy management at Toyota, to the AIAG team. As the organization’s new director of commercial development in the southeast, Mimms will be responsible for expanding AIAG’s presence in the region, and further nurturing existing relationships with automotive manufacturers, suppliers, and trade associations in the area.
“As AIAG focuses on helping suppliers more effectively manage the growing complexity of supply chain risk, we are pleased to add a talented and experienced industry professional like Dave to our team,” notes J. Scot Sharland, executive director of AIAG. “His knowledge of our organization, as well as the global supply base, product development processes, quality management systems, Asian business culture and southern social sensibilities will have an immediate and positive impact on our current and future members.”
Mimms joins AIAG at a time when dramatic shifts in the advanced manufacturing footprint necessitate the development of a more robust automotive-centric presence in southern regions without the dense infrastructure of other areas. The challenges for automakers investing in state of the art facilities in the southeast include identifying local suppliers in areas that have been largely rural, and establishing a pipeline of locally grown talent to feed the rapidly increasing demand – however, this migration has also opened up opportunities for new partnerships and creative solutions, both of which AIAG, and Mimms, will continue to embrace in the years to come.
In response to the unique environment this shift has created in the southeast, AIAG has partnered with southern automotive manufacturers associations like those in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee (AAMA, GAMA, MAMA, SCAC, and TAMA, respectively) and worked to bring resources to the south through industry events like the upcoming 2018 Southern Automotive Quality Conference in Birmingham, Alabama. Welcoming Mimms to the AIAG team, with his passion for putting customers first, and his strength in building bridges and making connections, was deemed a natural next step.
Prior to becoming involved with AIAG, and even prior to joining Toyota, Mimms began his career working for a relatively small job shop in Louisville, Kentucky. It was this experience that Mimms cites as being particularly impactful in shaping his philosophy that smaller organizations can be key links in the supply chain despite potential disadvantages, provided they have the right supportive resources. Mimms explains: “I see my role at AIAG, in part, as a great opportunity to support smaller suppliers by introducing existing tools and systems, and listening to their unique needs so we can find solutions that fit. I believe in AIAG as a catalyst to further energize and expand automotive in the southeast, and I am excited to be an integral part of that process.”
Mimms joined Toyota in 1990, when he was hired at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky plant. After a seven year stint in the Quality Engineering Materials group – first as a specialist responsible for paint finish and anti-corrosion quality, and then as a supervisor over a small group of quality engineers – Mimms moved on to Toyota Motors North America (TMNA) Quality Division. There he spent an additional 20 years in positions of increasing managerial responsibility, leading cross-functional improvement initiatives, developing, deploying, and auditing quality policies and best practices, and strengthening the organization’s “customer first” mindset.
As a result of his dedication to both Toyota and the industry, Mimms also served as Toyota’s representative on the AIAG Quality Steering Committee for over 15 years – including one term as chair – and proposed, as well as joined, the AIAG Traceability workgroup. Additionally, Mimms also proposed and championed the Automotive Warranty Management Guideline (CQI-14) initiative, served as an AIAG Board of Directors’ alternate, and participated in numerous projects over the years.
“I am most proud of leading and participating in workgroups that help the industry come together to make the best vehicles, and create the best consumer experience possible,” Mimms concludes. “I look forward to continuing these sort of collaborative efforts in my interactions with the suppliers, manufacturers, and trade associations in the southeast, with the understanding that when we all work together and pull in the same direction for the good of the car-buying customer, we all win.”
About AIAG
Established in 1982, AIAG is a not-for-profit association where professionals from a diverse group of stakeholders - including retailers, suppliers of all sizes, automakers, manufacturers, service providers, academia and government - work collaboratively to streamline industry processes via global standards development and harmonized business practices. To learn more about AIAG, visit www.aiag.org.