Belt maker Dayco moves to new headquarters

Birmingham, Mich. — Dayco is on the move once again.

After beginning operations at a new, $11.5 million serpentine drive belt factory in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, earlier this year, belt and drive systems maker Dayco is moving its headquarters to Birmingham, Mich.

The company had been located in Roseville, Mich., about 25 minutes to the east of Birmingham.

Accompanying the relocation are five senior leadership hires for the North American automotive and industrial supplier.

"By assembling a dynamic and talented executive team with strengths aligned to our company's vision and core values, along with providing a new workspace to collaborate in, we are setting Dayco up for continued success," said Dayco CEO Craig Frohock. "This team brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Dayco and will enable us to continue meeting the needs of our customers through ongoing innovation and portfolio growth as well as operational, financial and supply chain best practices."

Joining Dayco are Michael Widgren, chief financial and administrative officer; R.J. Corning as chief human resources officer; Clifton Levack as chief supply officer; Audrey Harling as vice president and managing director of N.A. aftermarket and global strategy and planning; and Thomas Jauch, vice president and managing director of global belts OE.

These five executives will join Steve Keller, general counsel, and the remainder of the aftermarket managing directors, in Birmingham.

The hires are a function of PE firm Hidden Capital Partners' desire — Hidden Capital owns Dayco — to deliver a longer-term strategy focused specifically on North American growth.

Widgren will be responsible for "ensuring continued profitability and growth," as well as identifying new business channels.

Corning will "lead and execute an empowered employee experience" that's tied to Dayco's growth mission.

Levack joins Dayco from Mann and Hummel GmbH in Germany. He will employ supply chain management practices that "minimize risk, enhance the customer experience and improve time to market."

Harling has experience in strategic planning and operations for automotive aftermarket, OE and will be key in "orchestrating initiatives that improve business operations at Dayco."

Jauch joins Dayco from Hella, where he served as executive vice president and led the 2B Euro headlamps business.

With about $150 million in annual sales, Dayco also is a solutions provider for hybrid electric vehicles. The bulk of the company's work is with rubber, but it also works with plastics.

The company has more than 40 locations in 22 countries and more than 3,600 associates.

Dayco is eyeing major growth in several drive belt markets in North America, in addition to automotive (including hybrid EVs), agriculture and industrial products like water pumps, tensioners and pulleys.

"Our serpentine belts are used specifically for the automotive and heavy-duty industries, though we are experiencing market growth (in) front-of-engine components ... along with serpentine belt kits and timing chain kits for various vehicle applications," Frohock told Rubber News last month. "We are also growing our belt lines for industrial machinery and powersports vehicles."

The new, 72,000-sq.-ft. Mexico location will ramp up to full production this spring with a first shift, incorporating a second shift this summer and a third shift by winter 2025. The facility boasts state-of-the-art machinery that can produce up to 4.2 million poly-V belts annually.

Construction of the facility, which expands Dayco's footprint in North America and across the globe, was completed early after breaking ground in November 2022.

By August 2023, the building was erected. By September last year, a freshly recruited production team took its training to Argentina, preparing for the first prototype belts to be produced in San Luis Potosi at the end of November 2023.

With everything progressing ahead of schedule, the first production belts began being manufactured in January. A grand opening ceremony took place Feb. 27.