Vintech eyes Europe as it grows further as global auto Tier 2

Troy, Mich. — Automotive supplier Vintech Industries Inc. is looking to establish its first European manufacturing facility.

Based in Imlay City, Mich., Vintech is a global Tier 2 supplier of extruded seals and molding, as well as insert molded parts. The company has facilities in China, Turkey and Mexico in addition to Michigan.

“Currently we have many customers in Europe, and we're actually supporting Europe from both our location in China and our location in Michigan, and we're trying to localize that business per our customers' request,” said CEO Jim Schoonover, in an interview at the Society of Plastics Engineers' Automotive TPO conference in Troy.

Vintech, which does business as Vintech Plastics, is negotiating for space in Lisbon, Portugal. The location would be central to customers, and Vintech found the business environment there to be a good fit, said Frank “Weizhong” Mu, co-owner of Vintech.

“We like the environment, and the cost particularly is quite cheap compared to other countries in Europe,” he said.

Automakers are under pressure to refine their global supply chains and meet the needs of an increasingly diverse customer base.

“As more and more vehicles become global vehicles the OEMs have told us that it's not the Tier 1 suppliers that are the problem in the industry, it's the inconsistency between the Tier 2 suppliers,” Schoonover said. “What we're doing is we're using exactly the same tooling design, exactly the same process and exactly the same material, so that allows the OEs to have exactly the same results everywhere in the world.”

Vintech expects its European operations to be operational by the second quarter of 2017.

The company also is investing in new equipment for its Imlay City plant to support the development and production of new extruded products to replace metal parts on vehicles. The plastic parts, targeted for SUV and pickup-type vehicles, are cheaper than their metal counterparts and also provide weight savings, Schoonover said.

Vintech currently has annual sales of around $30 million to $40 million. With the addition of its Portugal location and investments in the Detroit area, the company has its eye on sales of $100 million in coming years.