Archive article. Originally published in Rubber and Plastics News, January 25, 2021. Titles, headcount and certificates described here are as of 2021 and may not reflect COi today.
Their Journey: Diversity breeds success for COi Rubber
CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif.—COi Rubber Products Inc. is a minority rubber manufacture; rubber goods supplier that has used diversity to its advantage.
这家公司是认证的 少数族裔供应商 其大部分员工也包括少数族裔成员。这有助于为定制成型、挤压和橡胶金属制品供应商打开大门，从而推动了工业城的经济增长。 公司.
爱德华·卡西拉斯是公司的销售副总裁。他认为公司的成功有很大一部分原因归功于他。他表示，作为管理者，他们视员工为一群来自不同背景、有着经济、文化和语言差异的人们。.
“这确实使我们能够汇聚来自这些不同生活经历的丰富经验，从而更好地针对现有客户和潜在客户制定解决方案。”他说：“我们对橡胶行业有着独特的理解。”
COi Rubber—led by president and co-founder 大卫·查欧—该公司在加利福尼亚州没有任何生产基地。其总部和配送中心位于洛杉矶市中心东部15分钟处，另外还有一个姐妹公司也在安徽工厂生产耐用医疗设备。生产基地位于安徽工厂 中国芜湖。.
COi currently employs about 15 people in California, down some because of COVID-19, while the manufacturing site in China has a staff of about 450.
去年
During this tumultuous past year with the coronavirus pandemic impacting business all over the globe, Casillas said many in the industry are looking for a stable supply chain now more than ever. And he believes COi Rubber, because it is so lean, can be more agile than many of its larger competitors.
“我们拥有来自不同背景、拥有不同经验的成员，”他说。“这使我们能够以更高效的方式做出更具战略性的决策。”我们拥有许多不同技能、不同背景的成员，他们为我们解决棘手问题提供了很好的思路。”
这些措施包括如何设计出性能更卓越的化合物，同时保持客户的成本稳定，或解决质量问题。.
“我们确实找到了人才。”他说。“我想每个雇主都很难做到这一点，但或许答案就在于我们非常幸运，因为我们能够利用其他公司无法利用的资源。”
Casillas quips that the diverse talent at COi Rubber covers “at least several continents.” In California there are Hispanics and Latinos, but the firm also boasts Americans, Mexican Americans and Vietnamese Americans. There even are two with European backgrounds.
卡西利亚斯的家庭
卡西利亚斯的家人来自墨西哥，他是第一代在美国出生的移民，但他小时候也曾在墨西哥长大，后来在他六岁左右的时候又回到了美国。.
“从那时起，我便很幸运地开始吸收了美国文化，”他说。“这让我能够兼收并蓄两种文化。我自豪地称自己是墨西哥裔美国人，因为我拥有两种文化，而且从小就被接触到这两者。”
That background, he said, has helped his career at COi Rubber. While minorities sometimes have access to financial aid for schooling, they also can have the “very real and practical advantage of having a second language.”
“卡西利亚斯说：”在这种情况下，我负责管理墨西哥的许多账户。“墨西哥有很多汽车制造企业，这让我能够流利地使用西班牙语，还能与客户进行交流。这不仅仅是语言上的问题，更重要的是在合同制造过程中需要建立起这种企业对企业之间的关系。”
获得认证的好处
COi Rubber is certified as a minority-owned business by the Southern California Minority Supplier Development Council, and that brings with it tangible benefits, according to Casillas. That is particularly helpful when dealing with large, global conglomerates that need to allocate a certain amount of their contracts to minority businesses.
“如果没有这份证书，我们就不太可能获得那么多机会，”他说。“但我们仍然需要努力工作。”
一级汽车供应商
One Tier 1 automotive supplier that has been particularly important to COi Rubber is Japan’s 爱信世基有限公司. 供应商 丰田, Honda and other OEMs is one of COi’s largest customers.
“卡西利亚斯说：”他们在墨西哥的工厂确实帮助我们成为他们宝贵的供应商。“ ”他们真的给了我们发展和拓展业务的机会。” “我认为，他们是一家少数族裔企业，而我们是一家少数族裔企业，两者相结合非常完美。”
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. has a structured diversity program for its suppliers, and COi has had a growing relationship with the firm over the past decade-plus. In 2019 COi received the firm’s Outstanding Diverse Vendor Award.
“他们不仅在日常运营中，而且在与我们的团队的个人接触中，都非常注重营造愉悦的氛围，从这一点来看，他们做得非常出色。”卡西拉斯说道。“他们非常欢迎我们，并鼓励和培养我们，帮助我们找到成为他们供应商的途径，而且这种方式非常有效。”
COi Rubber VP of Sales
The COi Rubber VP of Sales said all organizations can benefit from expanding their target pool when it comes to hiring. “There is a lot more viable talent out there that perhaps other organizations are not utilizing through their hiring needs or hiring platforms,” he said.
He said COi didn’t necessarily set out to have as diverse a work force as it has, but by being an equal opportunity employer, it just ended up that way.
“我可以说，我们或许拥有一个优势，那就是位于加州——具体来说是洛杉矶县——这里的人口构成与全国其他地区截然不同，因此该县和城市本身被视为国家整体的熔炉，”卡西拉斯说道。.
Originally published in Rubber and Plastics News, January 25, 2021. Written by Bruce Meyer. Read the original article (PDF)