Plastech Engineered Products was a tier-1 automobile supplier headquartered in

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

. It was long the largest woman-owned company in the state of Michigan. Plastech started in 1988 with the purchase of a single injection molding facility in Caro, Michigan. The company subsequently grew rapidly through a mixture of organic growth and acquisitions, the most notable of the latter being the purchase of United Screw and Bolt in 1997 and LDM Technologies in 2004. In 2007 Plastech took over four plants and sales of US$700 million from Johnson Controls, bringing annual sales to US$1.7 billion. Plastech's customers included

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, Ford Motor Company,

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

, and Johnson Controls. Following a disagreement with Chrysler, Plastech Engineered Products filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on February 1, 2008. Douglas Doran, Chrysler's director of interior procurement, said Plastech's quality issues were far worse than the typical supplier. He stated that those quality issues, coupled with Plastech's continued financial needs, led Chrysler to cancel its contracts. The firm was having trouble paying suppliers and had violated agreements with its lenders. General Motors, Ford, and Johnson Controls all publicly supported Chrysler's position against Plastech. The firm was later liquidated, with major assets being sold to Johnson Controls. Both Chrysler and General Motors would themselves file for bankruptcy in 2009, thereafter receiving large government-backed loans that were later completely paid back in full. In 2014 JCI spun off its automotive interiors business, and several former Plastech locations are now operated by

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors SAIC Motor Corp., Ltd. (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Anting, Shanghai. Founded in 1955, it is currently the largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manu ...

. Plastech Engineered Products is the namesake of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

's Plastech Professor of Computer Science, an endowed professorship currently held by

Roberto Tamassia Roberto Tamassia is an American Italian computer scientist, the Plastech Professor of Computer Science at Brown University, and served as the chair of the Brown Computer Science department from 2007 to 2014.

. Private investment company Oak Point Partners acquired the remnant assets, consisting of any known and unknown assets that weren't previously administered, from the Liquidating Trust for the Plastech Engineered Products, Inc., et al., Bankruptcy Estates on October 19, 2017.

Locations

Plastech employed 7,600 people in 31 manufacturing facilities, 2 corporate locations and a Technical Center North America: Alabama * McCalla, AL Illinois * Chicago Indiana * Elwood, IN * Kendallville, IN Kentucky * Louisville, KY x2 *

Owensboro, Kentucky Owensboro is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Daviess County, Kentucky, United States. It is the fourth-largest city in the state by population. Owensboro is located on U.S. Route 60 and Interstate 165 about southwest of Lou ...

Louisiana *

Shreveport, LA Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is ...

closed due to bankruptcy Michigan *

Auburn Hills, MI Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city in 1983, the area was part of the now-defunct Pontiac Township. It is home to Oakland Universit ...

(Corp.) *

(Tech. Center) * Caro, MI *

Clarkston, MI Clarkston is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Detroit, located about northwest of downtown Detroit, Clarkston is surrounded by Independence Township, but administered independently since its incorporation i ...

Croswell, MI Croswell is a city in Sanilac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,447 at the 2010 census. History The settlement, originally known as Black River, was established in 1845. Later it was known as Davisville, after the tow ...

* Dearborn, MI (Corp.) *

Fowlerville, MI Fowlerville is a village in Livingston County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is located in the northeast portion of Handy Township, but is politically independent from the township. The population was 2,886 at the time of the 2010 census. ...

Grandville, MI Grandville is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 15,378 at the 2010 census. Grandville is just southwest of the city of Grand Rapids and is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area. It was first settled i ...

Hartland, MI Hartland is a census-designated place (CDP) comprising the main community in Hartland Township, in Livingston County, Michigan, United States. US Highway 23 forms the western edge of the community; the highway leads north to Flint and ...

Kentwood, MI Kentwood is a city in Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 54,304 as of the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the northwest by Grand Rapids and is the third most-populated municipality in the Grand Rapids metropolitan ...

x2 *

Lansing, MI Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, making ...

* Monroe, MI x2 *

Port Huron, MI Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately. Located along the St. Clair ...

* Romulus, MI x2 Ohio * Andover, OH * Brooklyn, OH *

Bryan, OH Bryan is a city in, and the county seat of, Williams County, Ohio, United States. It is located in the state's northwestern corner, southwest of Toledo. The population was 8,729 at the 2020 census. History Bryan was platted in 1840 by John ...

* Byesville, OHClosed/ More than 450 jobs lost * Cleveland, OH * Moraine, OH *

Strongsville, OH Strongsville is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Cleveland. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 44,750. The city's nickname 'Crossroads of the Nation,' originated from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O ...

* Wauseon, OH Tennessee *

Franklin, TN Franklin is a city in and county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. About south of Nashville, it is one of the principal cities of the Nashville metropolitan area and Middle Tennessee. As of 2020, its population was 83,454. ...

closed August 2008 * Kenton, TN closed due to bankruptcy File:PlasTech(closing)TN_2009June_03.jpg File:PlasTechTN(closing)2009June_02.jpg, FIle:PlasTechTN(closing)_2009June_01.jpg {{cite web, url=http://plastecheng.com, title=Plastech's Official Website, work=Plastech Engineered Products, accessdate=April 19, 2006, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418175832/http://plastecheng.com/, archive-date=April 18, 2009, url-status=dead

Website

Plastech's Official Website

References

Companies based in Wayne County, Michigan American companies established in 1988 Defunct automotive companies of the United States Defunct manufacturing companies based in Michigan