The last couple of years have been rewarding for Bryan Custom Plastics in Williams County. It won the equivalent of two Oscars for its performance in the plastics industry. One was Ford's Total Quality Excellent (TQE) award, which honors the top echelon of Ford's Q1 suppliers. Bryan was the first, and so far the only, interior trim supplier to gain TQE status from Ford. The other accolade was designation in 1996 as "Processor of the Year," by the trade publication Plastics News. That award was based on financial growth, community involvement, employee relations and training.
The awards are all the sweeter when one learns that back in the 1980s this was a company that was working its employees just three days a week and was plagued with quality problems.
"Back then, we produced plastic cabinets for a TV maker," recalls one long-time employee. "The customer was rejecting truckloads of product because of quality problems. So the company took the employees to the customer's plant to see the problems firsthand. When these employees had to face the customer and be told 'so you're the people that are sending us this junk,' that really hit home."
Teamwork and training came to the rescue. The company established teams as part of the corporate culture and focused training on quality, costs and delivery. A substantial in-house training program is supplemented through the four-county vocational school for such specialties as tool and die repair.
Teaming has now graduated to more sophisticated levels-- like how to fit more parts in a box, making machines run parts faster and consolidating work in one area instead of shifting a part to different areas for different tasks.
"The team approach has assured the company's future," says Tim Kline, V.P. and general manager.
Celebrating its 50th year in 1996, the company was previously owned by Ohio Art, Tappan Co. of Mansfield, and Standard Oil of Ohio before being bought in 1976 by United Screw and Bolt, a Cleveland area metal stamper looking to diversify. Bryan Custom Plastics is now the largest contributor to its parent.
"The company has survived by going where the need is -- from toys to Tappan Ranges to the auto industry," says Kline.
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Automotive work now generates 90 percent of the company's business. Bryan Custom Plastics is a full service supplier -- meaning it helps design the car. It specializes in custom injection plastic molding of large components, using two 5,000-ton machines, among the largest in North America. These behemoths punch out such components as interior trim panels for the Ford Explorer and farings, or wind skirts, for Freightliner.
"Most of the products manufactured at Bryan Custom Plastics are for the automotive industry," says Kline. "Our location in Bryan is geographically ideal for supplying the industry -- we're close enough to the heart of the industry to be part of the family, but we are far enough away to discourage the automakers from trying to manage our business for us." |
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Bryan also makes plastic parts for heavy trucks, golf carts, toys and trash cans.
Though the plant is unionized, Kline reports relations are "very, very good."
"We have a special, very nonadversarial relationship," he says. "Management makes a true effort, and there's very much of an open door policy."
Northwest Ohio's transportation assets support the company's global partnerships. It has a stake in IB Autotrim of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, a Spanish company. Bryan Custom Plastics also partners with Lodigiani y Leali SAIC of Argentina to supply parts to North American automotive OEMs in Argentina.
Bryan is a thriving community with a can-do attitude. Look at the beautiful town square and you'll see an enormous amount of civic pride and one of the reasons author Norm Crampton selected Bryan as one of America's 100 Best Small Towns.
"Much of our success has been the direct result of the community in which we live," says Kline. "Bryan is a great place to operate a business. It is a progressive community, one that is often able to accomplish things that much larger cities cannot."
Bryan Custom Plastics, employing 470 associates in its 350,000-sq. ft. plant, is the largest industry in a diverse mix that also includes giant tires (General Tire), Dum-Dum lollipops (Spangler Candy Co.) and toys (Ohio Art/Etch-A-Sketch).
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