Toyoda Gosei expands Fluid Systems unit

BRIGHTON, Mich.—A Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd. subsidiary is about to get a whole lot bigger.

TG Fluid Systems USA Corp. has begun construction of a 62,000-sq.-ft. addition to its manufacturing site in Brighton. The $11 million investment is designed to house all three of its facilities into one operation, increase capacity by 25 percent and add 35 new jobs in the next three years.

The unit currently has three facilities, a second in Brighton that already has consolidated into the larger Brighton facility, and a 50,000-sq.-ft. site in Howell, Mich., that focuses on the company's extrusion operations. TGFSUS President Brian Foddrill said the Howell facility's lease will expire in 2018, and by that time production will be relocated to the expanded Brighton site.

Once complete, TGFSUS will operate out of a 240,000-sq.-ft. facility.

"All aspects of the business will change based upon our ability to be under one roof," Foddrill said. "Of course it's going to help the production from a direct labor standpoint. We'll have a better movement of product by reducing and eliminating the moving of product between buildings. We have a full-time driver working all three shifts keeping product where it needs to be at. Our departments won't have to interact cross-buildings, they can literally walk out the door rather than drive 15 minutes."

TGFSUS primarily produces tubes used in the plumbing of fuel tank systems to Tier 1 automotive suppliers. The firm utilizes primarily nylon compounds, but also uses EPDM sleeves for some of its product lines and operates seven extrusion lines, currently in Howell, with about 100 forming stations and 65 assembly cells. TG said the expansion allows it to meet growing customer demand and increase the efficiency of TGFSUS.

When Toyoda Gosei acquired TGFSUS from Eagle Pitcher in 2000, the operation was a 20,000-sq.-ft. plant that served the Detroit 3. TG brought it Toyota, Honda and Nissan business, and under the Japan-based automotive supplier's ownership TGFSUS has grown from 70 employees to about 375, and from $5 million in sales to about $111 million at the end of fiscal 2016.

The subsidiary also produced 27.6 million parts in 2016, which TG said was a record. Foddrill said this year so far is following a similar course, especially as TGFSUS' products help with the lightweighting of vehicles as more OEMs move toward plastics from metal.

"In 2017, we see a decrease in light vehicle, but an increase in truck and SUV," he said. "June is going to be a record month for us. Typically June is the beginning of our summer shutdown. Our releases are telling us we're not going to be shutting down because of good activity and sales."

Investing globally

TG also will invest about $19 million to expand its production capacity for plastic fuel filler pipes at two of its other manufacturing locations.

TG Kentucky L.L.C. in Lebanon, Ky., will receive about $13.3 million and its site in Inazawa, Japan, about $5.7 million. When the projects are complete, the two facilities will have a combined increase in production to 2 million pipes annually by 2020, which TG said is about four times the current level.

The firm added that similar investments are planned in China, Czech Republic and other locations to meet customer demand for the product. Toyoda Gosei said the firm is making these investments to capitalize on OEMs utilizing plastics instead of metal in the production of their fuel filler pipes.

TG added that its plastic fuel pipes are about 50 percent lighter than their metal counterparts and are designed to meet stricter emission constraints in North America, China and Europe.