SMI continues growing with LSR

Saginaw, Mich. — Specialty Manufacturing Inc. has expanded its capabilities and work force again, thanks primarily to its continued growth in the silicone market.

With the popularity of silicone use in a variety of products surging — particularly in the medical, LED lighting and automotive industries — SMI Vice President Kristi Wiechmann said the company recently added a 450-ton Sodick TR450EH3 liquid silicone rubber injection molding machine and six new production employees.

SMI's latest additions continue a growth trend for the firm, which has added eight production workers and three silicone injection molding machines during the last year, she said. The newest machinery "expands SMI's capabilities to create parts with shots as low as 100 grams, or about the size of a mini desk calculator, all the way to two pounds, the size of a slim laptop."

Wiechmann, one of two daughters of the founders who hold high ranking positions within the firm, said "this expansion allows us to increase production capacity, better serve longtime customers who are experiencing growth and offer extended capabilities to existing and new customers."

She said the machinery was added for general business growth and because many of the parts the firm makes start out as prototypes. When the product cycle continues, SMI needs additional capacity to meet the growth.

It's the second expansion the company has made in the last three years. In 2016, SMI built an 11,000-square-foot addition to its 14,000-square-foot plant. State-of-the-art assembly and washing areas along with additional molding sections were added.

Saginaw-based SMI has a reputation for providing outstanding quality and for its ability to create custom silicone components on a micro level, said Wiechmann, who also serves as general manager. The firm even custom engineers machinery to meet customers' exact specifications and production timelines.

Because of its success, the company has tentative plans in the works for another expansion to its plant or the addition of a second location within the next three years, she said, adding that SMI's capabilities have expanded into larger parts and it is experiencing growth in that sector of the business.

Formed in 1979 by Jim and Kathy Thompson, who had met while working together at Dow Corning Corp., the firm has experienced significant organic growth and regularly expanded during the last several years.

Its growth has taken the company a long way from SMI's humble beginnings as a very small startup launched in the basement of the Thompson home. The Thompsons created the business after they noticed a large number of inquiries were made to Dow Corning requesting small-run silicone parts that could not be filled by Dow Corning. The couple viewed it as an opportunity.

Kathy Thompson served as president and Jim Thompson was vice president and ran the firm's engineering department.

Their daughters — Kristi Wiechmann and Amanda Schiebner — became exposed to the family-owned and -operated company starting at a young age. They grew with the firm, which continued to experience success producing and delivering small parts on a daily basis.

Jim Thompson died in the late 1990s and Kathy Thompson continued to run the business while Wiechmann, who took over as vice president, and Schiebner, who was still in college, took on larger roles.

Kathy Thompson's focus always has centered on quality. She has seen her responsibilities change over the years with the implementation of ISO standards, ever-increasing federal regulations and helping with the startup of a product, from a quality aspect, when it arrives at a company.

She and her daughters are co-owners of the business.

As vice president and general manager, Wiechmann moved into her jobs at an early age. But she was well prepared for her responsibilities. She started out working on the production floor in injection molding and assembly. During her college years, she took over SMI's payroll, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Soon after, she moved to sales and customer service and eventually took on more responsibility in plant scheduling and project management, which led to her role as general manager.

Schiebner is vice president of quality. She began working at SMI in accounts payable and receivable while attending college. After graduating, she handled the firm's payroll and accounting duties.

When the company's quality system requirements needed a greater focus, Schiebner took over the management of SMI's quality system, handling all regulatory and ISO regulations, while Thompson focuses more on production quality.

Remaining focused

SMI started out as a contract manufacturer, concentrating on small parts that other companies could not or would not make. It remains that way today, although it has two product lines — silicone sheeting and tubing.

"But our specialty is intricate and challenging hard-to-make parts that a lot of competitors 'no quote," Wiechmann said. "And sometimes we'll make a smaller part and this leads to [orders for]larger parts." The firm also bonds silicone to a number of substrates, including plastic, metal and even silicone parts.

"Kathy has always had a philosophy: 'Don't say no, figure it out. We can do it.' This has forced our employees to be creative and find ways to bring products to life that we really didn't know we could produce," according to Wiechmann.

She said the company recently had a prospect come in on the recommendation of a supplier. The customer could not get the part they had created successfully overmolded.

"This is where SMI excels," she said. "We brought the tooling in and had parts to them within one week. Being a smaller business allows us the flexibility to arrange orders as needed without missing deadlines so that our customers feel catered to."

Wiechmann said that the prime contributing factors to SMI's success over the years are quality and the willingness to work alongside the firm's customers.

"We have an extremely detailed quality system that customers are always complimenting," she said. "We grow along with our customers as their product cycles continue to grow. We start by offering them run sizes of five to 20 parts and ramp up to high volume as their parts evolve.

"Many times we see fourth- and fifth-generation versions of our customers' products. This allows us to know the history of the parts from day one and help our customers improve [them] as their products evolve."

Many times there are changeovers of staffs or ownership at customers' facilities that have customers asking about the history of a part, she said. "We are able to give them that detail when working on current projects and our customers find this a high-value addition."

Looking back at SMI's success as the firm celebrates its 40th anniversary, Wiechmann said it can be attributed "to our customers and dedicated employees who believe in our philosophy of delivering the best quality product on the market."