Auto Suppliers Feeling Industry Pain

Two area firms that provide parts to the auto industry find themselves in the same difficulties as the companies they supply.

Dave Von Deylen, president of Alex Products, said his company, based in Ridgeville Corners, has gone from about 900 overall employees to about 400.

At its Ridgeville headquarters, there are currently about 120 workers in operations, administration, and the technical center. At the start of 2008, there were 475 workers.

Ron Seifert, director of North American operations for Nobel Automotive, the former Dana Corporation facility in Archbold, said that business also has been impacted by the downturn in auto sales, but declined to give exact figures.

Von Deylen said Alex Products has scaled back its operations, as have the automakers.

"Ridgeville makes the seat frames for pickups and sport utility vehicles.

"When gas hit $4 a gallon, the market took a hit. Pickups and SUVs weren't selling," he said.

"Right at the time gas prices spiked, production numbers went down."

Orders for parts went from 1,200 a day to 20. He said none of the manufacturers were building new trucks and SUVs; as a result, Alex Products kept laying off.

Just In Time

Under the auto industry's current practice, "what you build today ships that night."

Now, employees will build the products today, but the truck will be cancelled that night.

The next day, there's still the products left from the day before to ship, before new products need to be made.

Alex Products operates a facility in Paulding where seat frames are made for a lot of smaller, fuel-efficient cars.

Von Deylen said sales in that portion of the auto market are off 5% to 10%- not 80% like the truck and SUV markets.

The company also operates a stamping plant in Bryan.

Praise

Von Deylen was full of praise for his company's workforce.

"We've got the best group of people I've ever known," he said.

"Quality, delivery, service- we are continuously recognized as the best around," he said.

Employees have been very cooperative and understanding about the situation.

They have been very flexible, sometimes "flexing almost by the hour.

"All we can do is keep them informed," he said.

"I feel terrible. There's a lot of mortgages and grocery bills up in the air," he said.

China, Mexico

VonDeylen said, "From my standpoint, these companies have taken the very best manufacturing market in the world, and outsourced it to Mexico and China.

"We're taking our dollars and handing them over to people who will never buy our products," he said.

At Alex Products, "we refuse to purchase" from overseas suppliers.

"We try to find made-in-Ohio supplies. If we can't find a supplier in Ohio, we buy from U.S. suppliers. We don't buy anything from outside the United States.

"We're working hard to survive, like every manufacturing plant in the U.S.," he said.

When Von Deylen was asked about the future, he said the future "is what you see in the news."