Strategic foam: Foamex, JPS alliance is paying dividends

AUBURN, IN -- Most headline-grabbing supplier consolidations involve megacorporations gobbling up smaller companies. A lot of creative and strategic maneuvering, however, is taking place out of the spotlight's glare.One example is Foamex International Inc.'s year-ago purchase of fabric maker JPS Automotive Products Corp. Because fabric is usually attached to foam wherever the latter is used, Foamex

By Tim Keenan • June 1, 1995

Fastener industry could come unhooked; potential North American capacity shortage looms

The $1 billion North American steel fastener industry may be on the verge of a profitability crisis that ultimately could lead to a capacity shortage.A study conducted by Coopers & Lybrand Consulting for the Automotive Industry Fasteners Group (AIFG)-- an organization of 32 steel fastener suppliers located mostly in the Midwest and Canada -- concludes that the industry must get lean and consolidate

April 1, 1995

Explore the Trendline➔

Automotive Manufacturing

Production strategies are changing rapidly as tariffs and shifts in consumer buying patterns affect the industry.

By WardsAuto staff

Miles’ switch to Bayer adds to global identity

Customers and employees of Bayer Corp. - formerly Miles and once Mobay - may need to take a couple of the company's aspirin tablets now that it has changed its name for the second time in a little more than three years.The latest revision of the Pittsburgh, PA-based plastics supplier's nomenclature will give the company one worldwide name and a stronger position as the auto industry progresses toward

By Tim Keenan • March 1, 1995

Dana expands operations, sponsors NASCAR truck series

Dana Corp. is driving with the aggressiveness of a top-notch NASCAR driver toward becoming a complete systems supplier in many of its core product areas. The Toledo, OH-based company also is getting closer to its goal of attaining 50% of its sales from outside the United States.Aiming to supply complete engine sealing systems, Dana buys the Paris, TN-based Plumley Companies Inc., which makes molded

March 1, 1995

IHI growing domestically; Asian, European expansion next

To paraphrase Garrett Morris's "Saturday Night Live" character, sunroofs have been very, very good to Inalfa Hollandia Inc. (IHI). The company has surpassed its own sales goals and expects to be doubling current production within three years.The original equipment supplier, based in Farmington Hills, MI, was looking to double its 1991 sales of $25 million over the following five years, but already

By Stoddard, Haig • March 1, 1995

Suppliers beef up testing: automakers push for higher quality from Tier 1 types.

Not of many people these days talk about the auto industry and thriving small business in the same breath. From suppliers to dealerships, this is the age when size and money talk.The ability to do business internationally with billion-dollar lines of credit is the ante in an increasing expensive and complex industrial showdown where fewer and bigger are the words most often heard by suppliers.But

By Lowell, Jon • March 1, 1995

Hoechst Celanese AMG moves into new HQ

Hoechst Celanese Corp.'s 225-employee advanced materials group moves from Chatham, NJ, to new headquarters at the 45-acre Robert L. Mitchell Technical Center in Summit, NJ. The Mitchell complex also is home to the company's research division and advanced technology group. Adhesive and sealant supplier Essex Specialty Products Inc. moves its 200 employees to a new 73,000-sq.-ft. (6,800-sq.-m) facility

Feb. 1, 1995