Natalie Wilkinson will be doing a fireside chat at the North American Manufacturing Excellence Summit next month in Fort Worth, Texas, but first she shares some of what she wants to talk about with The bluEPrint!

In this interview we discuss some of the exciting transformations happening at Toyota today, especially in relation to Sustainability, electrified vehicles, and how technology continues to change the way manufacturers operate. All of this, of course, is happening within the Culture of Continuous Improvement that is synonymous with the Toyota Production System. For everyone interested in what's new and what's next for one of the world's largest and most successful manufacturers, give this episode a listen!

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Natalie Wilkinson is the Vice President Manufacturing Production Innovation Center (MPIC) and dual capped as General Manager of Strategic Business Management and Production Support Center for Toyota North America.  A graduate of Oakland City University with a Bachelor’s in Marketing, Natalie began in 2001 at Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana.  She worked through different aspects of Production Control including parts ordering, logistics, packaging, supplier development and new model management before she moved to the manufacturing floor as the Sr. Manager of Body Weld Conveyance and then continuing to become the Sr. Manager of the East Body Weld production shop and body weld SOAR leader.  In 2017, she transferred from TMMI to TMNA to take on a newly developed position supporting the executive office in Plano and from there joined Corporate Strategy & Planning and then rotated back to Manufacturing SBM/NAPSC in 2020 and now into Production Engineering, June 2022.

During her time at Toyota, she has also started two main Business Partnering groups at TMMI, the Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF) and the African American Collaborative and led the development of Department Diversity Committees while being a member of the Diversity Advisory Council.  Also, an active participant in the regional WIIT group and supports the Annual Toyota Women’s conference.  Outside of Toyota, she has served as the Vice-Chair of the Girl Scouts of Southern Indiana Board of Directors where she has been a delegate at the National Council Meeting and became Chair of the Board in 2018.

In her spare time, Natalie and husband Greg enjoy attending the many functions of their two sons, Triston & Chase.   Triston is pursuing a career on the west coast as a personal trainer & Chase attends Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and plays football there.   Golf, sports, Steelers Football, musical events, and a large extended family keep them busy the rest of the time.