As Detroit Goes, So Goes Westminster?
Local auto parts companies have eyes on big three
At the recent North American International Auto Show, forecasters predicted a rough year for the Big Three U.S. car manufacturers.
But you didn't need to travel to Detroit to learn that the auto industry is having trouble. You could just ask George Aubuchon, a mold technician at TRW Automotive in Westminster.
With factories all over the world and $13 billion in sales in 2006, Michigan-based TRW manufactures parts for carmakers, particularly the American companies and Volkswagen. It employs about 200 people in Westminster, making it one of the largest businesses in town. These days, the company - and other auto parts suppliers in the area - are fighting against both worrying trends in the auto industry and the same global competition that affects almost all manufacturers.
The total number of people working in auto parts manufacturing in the state dropped from 6,100 in 1997 to 4,088 in 2002, according to census data.
Workforce Reductions
John Wilkerson, a spokesman for TRW, said the Westminster plant reduced its workforce by about 15 over the past year, due partly to a loss of sales and partly to increased automation. And beyond getting rid of employees, the plant has less work for those it retains.
Wilkerson said the company has added more slow-downs, weeks in which the company asks a large part of the workforce to stay home and use vacation time or collect unemployment benefits.
Aubuchon said a Christmas-time slowdown that usually lasts a week was extended to two this year. And Wilkerson said the plant had another weeklong slowdown in late January.
But Aubuchon and several other workers said they're not too worried about the plant's prospects, at least in the short term.
"It's not a big concern," said quality technician Logan Wilson, who said his section of the factory has remained busy, and he doesn't expect major layoffs to hit before he's ready to retire.
Although TRW has closed a number of plants in North America and Western Europe in recent years (announcing 17 closures just in 2005 and 2006), Wilkerson said there are two big reasons why workers at the Westminster plant shouldn't panic. First, the plant has been launching some new product lines, like a pressure relief valve for Ford trucks.
"This is a good plant that's developed technology that is shipping globally," he said. "When you talk about what's the viability of a plant's future, when you stop winning new business and bringing contracts online that's when things start to turn against you."
The other thing Westminster has going for it, he said, is that the plant uses more advanced assembly processes than many other TRW locations. That means a lot of expensive equipment, not to mention knowledgeable people, can be found at the site.
"The know-how still has a lot to do with it," he said.
A Leominster Perspective
Like the Westminster TRW plant, Leominster-based ClearPlas, which does plastics molding work for auto manufacturers, arranges its production processes to provide something that can't be found elsewhere. The company employs about 130 in Leominster and another 90 or so in Huntsville, Ala., and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Bob George, vice president of operations for ClearPlas, said the company, which was purchased by a group of Detroit-area investors in 2005, has actually increased its workforce by about 30 percent in the last 18 months. The ClearPlas strategy revolves around moving from basic commodity manufacturing to making very specialized products like decorative plastic parts and clear plastic lenses for instrument clusters that are easily damaged when shipped long distances.
"If you're trying to compete in commodity parts right now with the Pacific Rim, you're going to lose," George said. "Ultimately you can't compete with people that have a lower standard of living. They're going to kick your butt."
For the Westminster plant, international competition goes on not just with other companies but also within TRW. In its 2006 annual report, the company noted that it is shifting production to "low-cost countries."
But Wilkerson said the situation on the ground is more complicated. While TRW is aggressively expanding in China, he said, the country's economic growth means the company is increasing its sales there just as fast. Chinese auto manufactures buy up almost everything the TRW plants there can make, with almost nothing left over for export.
Ultimately, Wilkerson said, it's hard to know what the future will hold for the Westminster plant. But he said he is hopeful that, as car manufactures launch new models later in the year, the factory will once again follow in their wake, this time in a positive direction.
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