Cascade Engineering 'getting back to our roots' following series of divestitures

Cascade Engineering Inc. CEO Christina Keller sees 2024 as a year to position the family-owned injection molding company for growth as it focuses on its core operations.

Coming out of the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic and the related disruptions to the manufacturing sector, Keller said 2023 was a "stabilizing year" for the 50-year-old company following multiple divestitures. Those included the 2022 sales of its former powersports division as well as CK Technologies LLC, which had previously been the company's largest division that focused on commercial trucks and buses. In July 2023, the company sold its Budapest, Hungary-based injection molding business Cascade Engineering Europe to TI Fluid Systems.

Heading into 2024, Keller said the recent divestitures as well as her outlook for the sectors that Cascade serves will help the company to build momentum as it "gets back to our roots."

Cascade was No. 29 in Plastics News' most recent ranking of North American injection molders with $348 million in sales in the region.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Q: What kind of year was 2023 for Cascade Engineering?

Keller: I would say 2023 was a good year, but it was a stabilizing year as well. After about three years of lots of different swings from the standpoint of resin prices or shutdowns or the supply chain, 2023 was pretty even keel. We had a couple of new product launches and those went very well.

We also won the Society of Plastics Engineers award for the Ford F-150 front trunk. That was kind of a big thing that we accomplished this past year, and it won not only the interior category, but it won the overall innovation award for this past year. So, we're kind of getting back to our roots as innovative leaders in the plastics industry.

Q: What do some of the markets and industries you serve look like in 2024?

Keller: In the waste and recycling industry, we are continuing to see rollouts for trash containers. Some of the bigger cities nationwide are starting to put out RFPs for curbside bins, so that's continuing to grow as an industry. I think the furniture industry is steady — it's starting to see a little bit of recovery. We're seeing now that people are starting to go back to the office more, so numbers are starting to pick up more on the furniture side.

With the automotive sector, we are seeing that from an electric vehicle perspective, there are more EV startups but they are maybe coming online a little bit slower than some people anticipated. The wave is coming at some point. It's just the timing of that is still being ironed out as there are still barriers to the overall infrastructure and rollout.

Q: Can you share some insight into the company's current growth strategy following the sale of three divisions in the past few years?

Keller: We have done some sales of some of our non-Michigan, non-strategic arms of our organization, and that's part of our reinvestment into our core. We are reinvesting in our Michigan facilities, in our equipment, in our infrastructure and in our people. We obviously want to stay a diversified manufacturer and stay in our West Michigan community.

Part of being strategic is, what are you not going to do? So, I think some of the divestitures that we have done have allowed us to reset our balance sheet, especially with interest rates being so high, and have that powder to be able to put back into our core areas.

Q: How is 2024 shaping up for the company?

Keller: I think [this] year is going to be a year of setting ourselves up for growth. We're looking at how we can push the envelope with our current customers and our different spaces to say, 'How can we provide value? How can we be a leader in the circular economy?'

We're looking for our next front trunk to be able to move in that area. We're launching some more product lines with fully recycled materials and continuing with some of our other programs from a people and a planet perspective. I think that next year is continuing to build momentum on some of our creative, innovative product lines and setting ourselves up for the next five years for growth and continued development.