Metaldyne to close Farmington Hills, Mich., facility

Metaldyne Corporation, an Asahi Tec company, announced May 2 it will close its Farmington Hills, Mich., plant by April 2008 to adjust for the excess capacity in its plants caused by production cuts from its North American customers.

"This was a difficult but necessary decision," said Metaldyne president and chief operating officer Tom Chambers. "The Farmington Hills workforce has shown a great commitment to quality, safety and manufacturing excellence, and I want to commend them. Unfortunately, we must adjust our capacity as our customers reduce their production schedules."

The 112,000 square-foot facility has 170 employees and produces chassis and powertrain products for several customers. These products will be moved to other Metaldyne facilities.

"We are assessing the competitiveness of our plants to see which operations can best absorb this work," said Chambers. "We are working closely with the United Auto Workers, which represents Farmington Hills, on this process."

Last month, Metaldyne announced plans to discontinue operations at its Greenville, N.C., plant by December of this year. That work is being moved to Metaldyne's chassis facility in Whitsett (Greensboro), N.C. Greensboro is represented by the UAW.

"Metaldyne must be structured to be agile and efficient," said Chambers. "These moves will help ensure our competitiveness in the global marketplace and will help us serve our customers more efficiently."