05/10– Contech Takes Top Honors
Contech Casting, a Revstone company located in Southfield, Mich. was crowned king of the 2010 North American Die Casting Association’s International Die Casting Design Competition. Contech was rewarded for its design quality, cost reduction and contribution to the growing casting market.
4/12— Thomas Brady Named President of RevstoneTransportation Group
Before joining Revstone, Brady compiled over forty-five years of automotive-market experience at General Motors Corporation, serving as manufacturing manager of the Metal Fabricating Division.
4/12— Jay Wilber Named Executive V.P. of Revstone Transportation Group
Before joining Revstone, Wilber served as executive director of General Motors and executive director of the UAW-GM center for Human Resources. Jay is co-author of United We Stand (McGraw-Hill, 1995), a book describing the UAW-GM partnership for quality and process management.
Good news for a local factory. It's been sold to another company, but it will remain open.
Grede Foundries in Vassar employs around 150 people.
It's a major employer for the area and this news is comforting for those who questioned its future.
Ask nearly everyone in Vassar and they'll tell you they had heard the Grede Foundry just south of downtown was closing.
But last week, the company says it successfully sold to another company, and it's keeping the doors open.
Terry Eddy, the owner of the U-Fix-It Auto Repair across the street from the foundry says, "I think it's great. We need manufacturing, especially in Vassar. We've lost a lot."
Eddy has seen the devastation of manufacturing jobs lost in the past.
The foundry is vital to him since many of his customers are foundry workers.
"It's really convenient for them. They work across the street. They can drop their car off and pick it up when they get out of work."
The new company is Revstone. It's Kentucky-based and had all the non-management workers reapply for their positions. It says it rehired them all.
The foundry also means continued tax dollars for the city.
Milwaukee-based Grede Foundries had owned the Vassar foundry since 1986.
The company says steady work continues to come into the plant, and that it's profitable.
Source: By Dan Armstrong | ConnectMidMichigan.com
Former Grede Vassar facility was bought by Kentucky-based Revstone Industries, and all nonmanagement employees who applied for positions with Revstone will continue working. That’s expected to save between 80 and 100 jobs, and a few in management will stay on, as well.
Revstone will operate Grede as a new company under its Metavation division.
“Obviously, we’re very happy to keep our jobs,” said Chris Schmitt, controller for Metavation. “They won’t hurry to piecemeal us out. They’re looking to grow the business.”
Vassar City Manager Julius Suchy and other city officials had been meeting with Metavation to see how the city could help keep the doors open for one of the community’s largest employers.
All nonmanagement Grede manufacturing employees at Vassar were urged to reapply for their positions with Metavation, and all who applied were hired, Grede Board Chairman Richard T. Koenings said.
The Vassar operation was sold separately from other Grede properties in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Kansas and Indiana and the Iron Mountain/Kingsford area. Those facilities, including the corporate headquarters, were sold to Wayzata Investment Partners of Minnesota, as approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Suchy said he’s glad to see the foundry in Tuscola County continue to operate in the coming year.
“It is a huge asset to keep in our community during these economic times,” Suchy said. “It’s a success for the whole community.”
Source: By Deborah Brown | The Saginaw News
Revstone announced today the purchase of the Vassar division of Grede Foundries. The facility will become part of the Metavation division of Revstone. Metavation currently operates five manufacturing facilities in addition to its headquarters, sales and engineering office located in Inkster Michigan. Metavation has approximately 30% of the North American market share in crankshaft dampers.
Grede Vassar is a key supplier of castings to the automotive and industrial markets serving both OEM and aftermarket. The facility which produces 30 million castings a year also includes a research and development center. “We are proud to complete this transaction and bring the Vassar facility into Revstone,” says George Hofmeister, Chairman of Revstone. “This is a plant that has won respect in the marketplace and proven what it takes to survive and grow in this economy.” “Chrysler could have taken this business overseas but this is a good facility with a solid record as a supplier. So, we made a commitment to the plant and to the community. We are happy to see jobs stay in Michigan,” said Matt Baldwin, Sr, Manager – Supplier Relations, Chrysler Group LLC.
Revstone, a global leader in engineering, design and manufacturing, today announced that R. Michael Carr has joined the company as vice president of acquisitions. In this role, Mr. Carr will utilize his extensive experience in restructuring and manufacturing to aid Revstone in the acquisitions of companies that best fit the Revstone business model and to ensure the smooth and successful launches of these companies.
Prior to joining Revstone, Mr. Carr spent 15 years in critical leadership roles at General Motors and Delphi Automotive Systems where he led many aspects of change, first as part of General Motors' Delco Remy Division, then as part of GM's consolidated AC Delco Systems and most recently within Delphi’s Powertrain Systems division. As global manager for production control and logistics within Delphi Powertrain Systems, Mr. Carr applied agile supply chain techniques to enterprise material and information flow to support the company’s global inventory reduction imperative.
Prior to working for General Motors and Delphi, he served in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Purdue University.
About Revstone
Revstone engineers, designs, manufactures and markets innovative products and services used in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications including transportation, aerospace, energy, general industrial, medical, agriculture, electronics and consumer industries with more than $1 billion in projected revenues. Revstone is a global company with executive offices in Lexington, Kentucky; Detroit, Michigan and New York and the Netherlands with manufacturing facilities across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. Revstone is currently expanding into China and Europe.
Revstone, a global leader in engineering, design and manufacturing, today announced that Dr. Yu Zhang has joined the company as president of Revstone China.
Before joining Revstone, Dr. Zhang was president and CEO of global auto supplier Techrim LLC. Before that, he served as vice president of Bernal Technologies and executive vice president of Bernal-Yawa, a joint venture with Shanghai Electric Corporation.
Early in his career, Dr. Zhang worked for the Shanghai Power Equipment Co. as a metallurgist and Shanghai Donghua University as an assistant professor. Dr. Zhang has developed and patented two laser processing technologies.
He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science from Michigan State University.
About Revstone
Revstone engineers, designs, manufactures and markets innovative products and services used in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications including transportation, aerospace, energy, general industrial, medical, agriculture, electronics and consumer industries with more than $1 billion in projected revenues. Revstone is a global company with executive offices in Lexington, Kentucky; Detroit, Michigan and New York and the Netherlands with manufacturing facilities across the United States, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. Revstone is currently expanding into China and Europe.
