Busy times for Mike Walter at Met2Plastic

Elk Grove Village, Ill. — Mike Walter sleeps just fine. But it's because he's so busy.

"Typically I sleep like a baby, just because I'm too exhausted. You work so hard that you're exhausted when you get home," he said.

Walter is president of Met2Plastic LLC, an injection molder and composites processor in Elk Grove Village.

He's busy because business is good, and also because the company has undergone changes since it was purchased by Dedienne Multiplasturgy Group in 2016.

"It's happy exhaustion. We've had some pretty good, pretty steady growth over the last several years. And so with that growth, you know, it's a challenge and it doesn't make for eight-hour days," he said.

He's not doing it alone, of course, and that's another reason he sleeps like a baby.

"We've been working on putting in place the right people," he said. "Over the past few years, we've added a few engineers to our staff. We've restructured our production team. We've recently added a controller.

"Getting the right team in place has been probably one of the toughest things to do. But it's also really helped us with our growth," he said.

The company was founded in Chicago in 1970 as Met Prototype Molding. Walter's father and uncle were two of the three founders.

"They bought their first two Bridgeport machines from the McDonald's Corp. I don't know McDonald's had Bridgeports, but they did," Walter said. "We also had a couple of molding machines."

At first, Met specialized in building aluminum molds and injection molding prototype parts. Customers included Bell & Howell, Motorola, Stewart Warner and Zenith Radio Co.

Walter, a DePaul University graduate who did post-graduate work in plastics technology from Northern Illinois University, joined the family-owned company in 1995.

Walter joked that he started working at Met when he was 10 years old, and he doesn't remember when he became president.

"If you met my dad, you would understand. He just started to come to work less and less. And so one day we realized, 'Hey, I don't think he's coming in anymore.'"

By the time Walter joined full time, Met had outgrown its Chicago factory and moved to Elk Grove Village, which had more space for tool building and injection molding. The company was an early adopter of computer numerically controlled machining and 3D computer-assisted design.

"At the time, we were still Met Prototype Molding. But our businesses started to transition more into low-volume production. And so in 1999 or 2000, we changed our name to Met Plastics because we realized we were losing business opportunities because companies considered us to be primarily a prototype house when we were actually doing very little prototyping," Walter said.

The product mix was primarily business equipment, with some appliance work. As the company transitioned to low-volume molding, it picked up medical work, which was still a good fit for the aluminum tooling specialist.

Then Met picked up its first aerospace project. It turned out to be a good move.

"In the mid 2000s, we started to see a lot of the business equipment applications transition over to China. So we had to reinvent ourselves. And that's when we really started focusing on aerospace and also medical," he said.

"We looked at different markets and we said, 'OK, which ones are the ones that are most likely to stick around here and can benefit from our expertise with lower- volume applications and the infrastructure that we had in place?' And that just pushed us into focusing on high-performance plastics as well."

The company became AS9100 and ISO 13485 certified, for aerospace and medical work, respectively, which "basically forced us to focus on those industries as well," Walter said.

Saint Aubin sur Gaillon, France-based plastics and composites company Dedienne Multiplasturgy bought Met Plastics in 2016, giving each company a trans-Atlantic manufacturing presence. Dedienne had four factories, located in France and Romania, and a specialty in high-performance polymers.

The deal gave Met2Plastic access to more technology and better access to the North American operations of Dedienne's European customers.

I asked Walter if he spoke French before the acquisition, and he joked, "Do I speak it now? No. That's been a tough one.

"When we were first acquired, I spent several months doing the Rosetta Stone course, and I thought I was progressing pretty well. And I went over to France for a meeting and over lunch I was with a few of my colleagues and I tried to say something, something very basic. And I kept trying, and they just kind of shook their heads. 'We have no idea what you're trying to say.' Back to English. Yeah.

"So there hasn't really been a push either, though, for, for me to learn French, because Dedienne is focusing on being an international organization and a lot of the discussions and meetings are actually being done in English."

Walter said the integration is going very well. The companies are working on new projects together, some involving multiple facilities. Dedienne is also interested in doing more acquisitions in North America, and Walter is involved in that.

Walter is a former president of the Manufacturers Association for Plastics Processors trade group. I suggested that his industry contacts could help when it comes to M&A, and he agreed, but added: "We're very, very selective. In terms of the companies that we're looking for, it needs to be a very good fit at multiple levels."

Few companies play in Met2Plastic's niches; Walter estimated that at most a few dozen in aerospace, but more in medical.

He declined to provide sales information, but said Met2Plastic has roughly 50 employees and 14 horizontal molding machines ranging from 40-720 tons of clamping force. The tool shop has three journeymen toolmakers. They support production, do preventive maintenance and build some of the company's new molds.

What's a good project for Met2Plastic? From the name, obviously, the company specializes in metal-to-plastic conversion.

"We tend to take on more challenging projects. Everyone says that, right?" he asked. "But we like to do work that has complexity, either with regard to materials — if it's a high-performance plastic, we're talking the top of the pyramid — or if it has value-add opportunities, either doing assembly work or machining work, near net molding and machining … [or] if there's any testing involved, ultrasonic welding, whatever the case may be. But we tend to be a good source if it's more than just a molded part."

What's in the company's future? Walter wants to stick with the company's culture of being on the cutting edge of new technology.

"Our goal is to constantly be coming out with newer technologies, so that we're not a me-too molder," he said.

One recent example is Roctool, a rapid heating and cooling process that increases the flow of plastic in the mold, allowing Met2Plastic to mold thinner walls and improve the cosmetic finish on parts.

"We see a much bigger focus on composites in the future as well. Because that's the direction where the industry is going," he said.

Walter is enthusiastic when he talks about the aerospace sector.

"It's an exciting industry because flying is cool to begin with," he said. "But they're constantly looking for new technology to lightweight as well. So that's exciting. And as far as thermoplastics go, the best is yet to come with regard to the aerospace industry."

Walter still has a small stake in the company, and he enjoys his work.

"Of course I like it. Yeah. Otherwise I wouldn't be doing it," Walter said.