Execs who saved Continental Structural Plastics retire

The two longtime executives credited for saving Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Continental Structural Plastics Inc. from insolvency retired last week.

CEO Frank Macher and CFO Jon Smith both retired from the automotive composites supplier on April 1. Steve Rooney, formerly the company's president and COO, replaces Macher as CEO and Steve Wisniewski, controller, has been promoted to vice president of finance.

Macher, previously CEO of Collins & Aikman, Federal-Mogul Corp. and ITT Automotive, and Smith — joining the company in 2010 and 2011, respectively, were tasked by board to turn around CSP after the Great Recession decimated the U.S. automotive industry.

CSP was plagued by a lack of staff and rife with potential pitfalls from potential failure equipment to customer miscommunication, Smith told Plastics News last year.

"It was equally scary," he said. "I think it's one of those things that as long as you're shipping parts, for some folks that's OK, but unless you know the equipment is not going to fail, and you have backup if it does, how do you assure yourself there will no interruption of supply? We were way off the mark in that regard."

Macher and Smith implemented new IT systems, refinanced debt, then looked internationally for expansion opportunities.

In late 2014, the supplier signed a deal for a 50/50 joint venture with Qingdao Victall Railway (Group) Co. Ltd. The partnership aimed to capitalize on CSP's light-weighting innovations and technology and the Chinese company's customer relationships and local market expertise.

In October 2015, the JV opened a 322,000-square-foot facility in Tangshan to make lightweight composite materials.

CSP also acquired five plants in 2014 from Magna International, which added more than 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space and more than 1,000 employees to CSP's portfolio.

The moves resulted in a 18 percent year-over-year growth rate with revenue of $634 million in 2015, ending in the $825 million deal selling CSP to Japan's Teijin Ltd. last year. CSP was sold for 10.25 times its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Rooney, who joined CSP in 2011, previously served as vice president of operations at Johnson Controls. He also held positions at Plastic Engineered Products, Baily Corporation/Venture Industries and Barry Controls. He earned bachelor's from the University of Massachusetts.

Wisniewski joined CSP in 2013. Before that, he was the director of finance for GKN. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan.