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October 30, 2020 04:21 PM

Nisco project went wider than expected

Bruce Meyer
Rubber & Plastics News Staff
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    Nishikawa Cooper L.L.C.
    The Bremen, Ind., plant of Nishikawa Cooper L.L.C. went from producing components for vehicle doors to personal protective equipment for the region's first responders and health care providers.

    TOPEKA, Ind.—A project that Nishikawa Cooper L.L.C.—commonly known as Nisco—was involved in soon after the pandemic hit got a lot bigger than the firm anticipated, but gave some workers something to focus on at a difficult time.

    The joint venture between Nishikawa Rubber Co. and Cooper Standard Automotive was approached to make protective gowns for medical staff and first responders on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak in Indiana. And staff at the firm's factory in Breman, Ind., jumped right in to help, with the first gown produced just a couple of days later.

    While the firm had more than 1,000 people on furlough at its three plants in Indiana and a sales and engineering group in Livonia, Mich., Nisco was able to have about 50 people work on the project to make the gowns, said Mike Esselburn, the firm's director of human resources.

    "All in all it kept us busy, kept us going," he said. "It was good that we could help out the community. It was a nice gesture on the plant's part to help the community, and it expanded certainly a lot broader than we thought it would go."

    Nisco had tried to keep it to a tri-state area—Indiana, Illinois and Ohio—but ended up getting orders from all over the country, Esselburn said. They shipped gowns to New York, and helped out a lot of fire stations and EMTs. Some Nisco employees also ended up buying some themselves to give to local first responders.

    He said a hospital network also approached Nisco about making gowns and other medical supplies for their industry full time because the group didn't want to have to buy from China. The Topeka-based firm passed on the opportunity, though, because of the amount of investment that would be needed, plus the number of competitors that could supply the goods at a lot cheaper price.

    Nishikawa Cooper L.L.C.
    Nishikawa Cooper L.L.C. employees reverse engineered a medical isolation gown so it could be produced with the automotive supplier's multi-function laser cutters, which are normally used for manufacturing vehicle door components.

    The project to make gowns started in April and went through the end of May, when things started to ramp back up in automotive and Nisco needed the facility to go back to manufacturing its traditional products.

    "I give a shout out to (Plant Manager) Leah Oden and her team at Bremen," he said. "When this came about they all volunteered to do it. They could have easily stayed home."

    The COVID-19 pandemic had a large financial impact on Nisco. Esselburn said sales were projected to be between $180 million and $190 million in 2020, but the firm will see at least a $20 million sales decline this year, and 2021 may be slower as well. Its three factories are back up to full employment, and actually are hiring at all three sites.

    Nisco did have a small number of its work force test positive for coronavirus, but said only one person needed to be hospitalized, and that worker is back home now. The company continues to employ safety precautions and has hand sanitizer stations located around the plants.

    One lesson the auto parts maker has learned is to show more patience in dealing with absences, knowing that many have family issues to deal with related to COVID-19 as well, Esselburn said. Nisco is trying some new things, he added, such as an attendance incentive to get people to come to work, but at the same time making sure they stay home if they are showing any symptoms of the virus.

    Related Article
    Watch: Nisco switches gears from car parts to medical gowns
    Editorial: Pandemic spotlights complexities of U.S. supply chain issues
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