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Japanese Auto Supplier Finds Success In County
By: Jim Totten
Daily Press & Argus -- June 28, 2005
In a time when many automotive suppliers are struggling to stay afloat, a Japanese auto supplier in Brighton has only seen growing sales and smooth sailing.
TG Fluid Systems, part of Toyoda Gosei, began with 33 employees and had $400,000 in sales for manufacturing vapor and fuel lines in 1995. Today, the company has 300 employees, supplies parts to numerous automakers and is expected to have $42 million in sales this year.
Scott Maly, president of TG Fluid''s Brighton plant, said the company has been successful by focusing on one part - vapor and fuel lines - and mid-volume car sales. He also said a good relationship with Japanese companies operating in the United States has helped.
The company's two biggest end-customers are General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. The plant manufactures vapor lines used in GM brands including the Chevrolet Cobalt, Saturn Ion, Chevrolet Malibu Maxx, Pontiac G6, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and Pontiac Vibe, and Toyota cars including the Corolla, Matrix, Tacoma, Tundra, Sequoia and Sienna.
Maly said the company is aggressive with new designs and does almost all of its own testing on-site. He said employees have created an efficient and effective team, and the Japanese management style focuses on identifying problems quickly so they can be resolved without causing delays in production.
Maly said the move from Green Oak Township to Brighton in July 2004 has went well and was necessary.
"We were busting out at the seams at the other facility," Maly said.
Since moving to Michigan, the company had been operating in a 40,000-square-foot facility in the Kensington Court industrial park in Green Oak Township. The company was on well and septic service, and Maly said a 145,000-gallon-pond in front provided a source for fire suppression.
He said the company now has city water and sewer service in a 70,000-square-foot building on Advance Street; the site was formerly occupied by ArvinMeritor, another auto supplier. He said the company has a larger lunch room and restrooms. In addition, he said plant is near a machinist and a tool-and-die company, whose services are sometimes needed.
Maly said the average wage at the plant is $11.65 per hour. The company operates three shifts, 24 hours per day, five days a week.
In an effort to become more efficient, the company has purchased $1.5 million in new automation equipment. Maly said the new robotic equipment won''t replace employees, who will be used for new business.
The company received an incentive to move into the city. Last year, the Brighton City Council approved a 50 percent tax abatement on new equipment for TG Fluid. It is estimated that over the six-year abatement period, the company will save $40,000.
Maly grew up in Ann Arbor and graduated from Pioneer High School in 1977. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and lived in Texas before returning to Michigan. He is married and has two children.
Toyoda Gosei - which has headquarters in Japan, Troy, Michigan, Belgium and Thailand - has 17,000 employees in 15 countries. It operates 57 facilities involved in producing parts for the automotive industry.
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