Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
News
September 08, 2017 02:00 AM

MGS to fuel more growth with acquisition in Mexico

Catherine Kavanaugh
Plastics News Staff
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    MGS Mfg. Group Inc.

    MGS Mfg. Group Inc. sales have increased about 10 percent annually for the last four years at the company's facility in the city of Chihuahua, Mexico, according to President Paul Manley.

    Now the mold maker and contract manufacturer is growing physically in Mexico, too, with the acquisition of a 125,000-square-foot facility in Juárez from Jabil Inc.

    Terms of the deal were not disclosed except that it includes 65 injection molding machines and it calls for retaining the 500 employees who had been making plastic parts for Jabil's automotive, electronics and consumer products markets.

    MGS has been serving those markets, too, some 215 miles to the south of Juárez in the city of Chihuahua, Manley said in a phone interview. He described customers as OEMs, brand owners and Fortune 500 companies.

    "The Mexican market and our customers in Mexico have been strategic to MGS since our entry into the market in 2008," Manley said. "We have been very successful in growing our business in Chihuahua and this acquisition provides additional capacity and space to continue to grow in the market. We are excited about our growth opportunities and look forward to working with a very experienced and talented Juárez team."

    Headquartered in Germantown, Wis., MGS was roughly a $200 million company before the acquisition, Manley said. With the Juárez deal, MGS now has 6 plants and about 345 injection molding machines and 1,700 employees in the U.S., Mexico and Ireland.

    MGS also has a new CEO, Greg Adams, the former president and CEO of Tenere Inc., a custom manufacturer of metal and plastic assemblies based in Dresser, Wis. His appointment was announced Sept. 7 along with his primary responsibilities of driving growth organically and through acquisitions. Adams also spent 15 years at Nypro North America, which is now a subsidiary of Jabil Circuits.

    Jabil is a publicly traded company based in St. Petersburg, Fla., that posted record net sales of $18.4 billion in fiscal 2016. The company offers engineering, manufacturing and supply services at 28 facilities worldwide for the automotive, appliance, medical device and other markets. The Juárez site was part of the Nypro organization that Jabil bought in 2013.

    MGS is expanding in Mexico at a time of lingering uncertainty over renegotiation of NAFTA. The 23-year-old pact governs more than $1 trillion of commerce between the U.S., Mexico and Canada. A second round of talks between the three countries ended Sept. 5. Some controversial changes, such as the use of U.S.-made materials in automobiles and higher wages for Mexican workers, have been proposed to address the $60 billion trade deficit the U.S. has with Mexico.

    Before the Juárez acquisition, MGS officials had a lot of internal discussions about doing more business in Mexico as well as talks with customers and advisers about NAFTA.

    "While there's uncertainty, when we look at our customers continuing to invest in Mexico and localize manufacturing from Asia to Mexico to service the North American market, we see a strong manufacturing relationship between Mexico and the United States at the moment," Manley said. "It's anybody's guess what will happen in Washington, but we must make decisions for our business based upon what we know today."

    While Manley noted the U.S. trade imbalance with Mexico, he added, "Our No. 1 cost component in our Mexican operations is resin, and the great majority of that resin is imported into Mexico from U.S. plants."

    Before the Juárez acquisition, most of MGS's sales, about 45 percent, came from the health care market, which isn't served by either facility in Mexico. The company also does substantial work in markets for electronics (22 percent), automotive (18 percent) and consumer products (8 percent).

    "While health care has been our fastest growing market," Manley said, "we see value in the diversification of the markets we serve."

    Business in Mexico has been increasing at a good clip because MGS offers customers a wide range of services related to molding precision plastic parts, selecting engineering-grade resins and building equipment for launch programs, according to the company president.

    "What makes MGS unique is that we are able to combine world-class plastics manufacturing with world-class tooling and engineering," Manley said. "We strive to be a single point of accountability in the supply chain of our customers. A great team and a great approach toward partnering with customers is what has and will continue to fuel our growth."

    The Juárez facility also has a nearly completed clean room. In addition to the two plants in Mexico, MGS operates in Germantown, Wis., Libertyville and Antioch, Ill., and Leixlip, Ireland. The company is owned by the Milwaukee-based private equity firm Mason Wells.

    Adams, the new CEO, who is succeeding Jeff Kolbow, has experience dealing with operational improvements, safety, customer satisfaction, developing accounts, and leading strategic initiatives from his years at Nypro.

    "I am very excited to join MGS, which is poised for further growth with tremendous capabilities and customers in addition to backing from Mason Wells," Adams said in a news release. "I'm delighted to return to precision plastics and look forward to working with the MGS team to help convert its many opportunities into successful customer solutions."

    Adams earned a bachelor's degree in economics at Michigan State University, a master's degree in manufacturing engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and an M.B.A. at the University of Michigan.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Auto suppliers plan for uncertainty amid UAW strike, shift to EVs
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Auto suppliers plan for uncertainty amid UAW strike, shift to EVs
    2
    An 8,000-ton dream for Milacron, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    3
    ABB to double injection molding capacity at Quebec plant
    4
    Some resin prices take a hike at the end of summer
    5
    An education in manufacturing as shop returns to a New York school
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified