MVP Plastics Inc., a Tier 2 automotive molder in Middlefield, Ohio, has purchased Integrity Design & Manufacturing Inc., a small Michigan mechanical design house that designs and builds automation, work holding fixtures, machinery and tooling.
MVP President and CEO Darrell McNair plans to add capability at the newly acquired company for product design.
Integrity currently has just five employees, but that number will grow as McNair adds the technical center, a project that he has long wanted to launch as a way to get involved in product development earlier.
“The product design piece is going to be important,” he said. “We've always done engineering in-house, but this takes it to a totally different level. This is going to be over the course of a two-year period here.”
MVP bought Integrity Design Sept. 8. McNair declined to disclose terms.
It's not uncommon for custom injection molders to beef up product design through acquisition, especially in automotive. But McNair said this also is a major diversification move for MVP Plastics, since the company in Oxford, Mich., serves a wide range of customers, including web handling equipment and special machines. Integrity also can do 3-D modeling and redraw blueprints using Solidworks and AutoCAD, for building a tool or a machine.
McNair said Integrity Design will help MVP's molding factories in Middlefield and Brownsville, Texas, with expertise in automation, end-of-arm tooling, chucks, fixtures and other areas. But Integrity — which has worked with General Motors Co., Fiat Chrysler and robot makers ABB and Kuka — also can work for MVP's customers in automotive, including the Tier 1s and automakers, he said.
The move should set MVP apart, McNair said.
“It's an interesting diversification play that build upon our existing customer base. It's another service that we can offer our existing customers,” he said.
Integrity Design will continue to serve its other, non-automotive customers, and that could give MVP some business in new markets, he said.
“What it also does is become a pillar to develop a full-blown tech center for MVP,” McNair said of the acquisition.
He plans to add 3-D printing at Integrity. MVP also will locate its project managers and program management staff at the Michigan operation, to be closer to Detroit.