People, innovation drive Cooper-Standard's sustainable products, operations

NORTHVILLE, Mich.—Authenticity is hard to come by these days.

But if Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc. is anything, Patrick Clark said, it's exactly that—authentic. Especially when it comes to defining and achieving its biggest sustainability aims.

And, according to Clark, Cooper-Standard's senior vice president and managing director of global automotive, there's a very simple explanation as to why.

Sustainability, he said, is built into the company's DNA. Because for the Northville-based automotive and industrial supplier, sustainability starts with the people who make Cooper-Standard what it is. All 23,000 of them.

Yes, he said. At Cooper-Standard, sustainability is built from the inside out.

"We recognize," Clark said, "what a commitment like that to sustainability has on the organization and the overarching contribution that it makes to our purpose, which we (articulated) last year: Creating Sustainable Solutions Together."

Together. That's the key.

Each employee understands that they not only have a role to play in moving the company forward in its sustainability aims, they help to set the course with big ideas and unique perspectives.

"They want to be part of something bigger," Clark said. "So, from our perspective, to keep that authenticity, that is how. We try to engage all 23,000 (employees) and try to come up with ways that they can contribute to something that is greater than just a short-term mission or achieving a certain task."

Ultimately, it is the ingenuity—the big ideas and commitments—of its employees that set Cooper-Standard up for long-term success in a changing business environment. One that is driven by—defined by—more sustainable expectations of customers and consumers.

And all that change? It's a good thing, a challenge that Cooper-Standard is willing to embrace. Because sustainability, Clark said, is just what the company does.

"Sustainability is not really new for us," Clark said. "… But we think that it has taken on a new meaning and focus, going back to the challenges of recent times."

Recently, there have been plenty of challenges, particularly for companies operating in the automotive space.

There was COVID for one. Volatile demand cycles for another. Throw in new mobility expectations, sustainability imperatives, inflation and rising manufacturing costs and it adds up to some tricky terrain.

For Cooper-Standard, though, there is something to be said about navigating terrain like that. Because challenges—particularly those around changing expectations and more sustainable solutions—make you stronger in the end. It forces you to see things from new perspectives and innovate in ways you may never have expected.

"That change in the market is something that we have embraced, and we believe we are leading in our field," Clark said. "We believe in providing solutions to our customers, and this allows us to invest in the material science innovations and technologies they (OEMs) want—(things) that support sustainable solutions and meet current needs as well as the needs of the changing market."

As the automotive industry continues to define exactly what new mobility—more sustainable mobility—looks like, suppliers like Cooper-Standard face new challenges. To develop new products with more renewable and recyclable materials. To meet new demands for noise reduction, efficiency and overall performance. And do it all with less waste, lighter-weight materials and smaller carbon footprints.

And you can bet, Clark said, that Cooper-Standard is doing all of things. Even in places such as sealing where it isn't entirely expected to transition.

"Many of our products support any powertrain," Clark said. "We do a lot of weatherstrips that are very EPDM-based, and this does not really stop us from providing solutions with friendlier carbon footprints, or implementing sustainable practices in our manufacturing operations or looking at it all the way through each stage of the life cycle.

"You know, looking at the sealing space, we have been able to adapt a lot of the rubber or EPDM-traditional materials by looking at the densities that we use. This reduces the overall weight of the vehicle, which is very important for electric vehicles."

Take MicroDense, compounds that help to ensure lighter weight products. The versatility of Cooper-Standard's Gen II innovation allowed for use across nearly all new sealing products in 2021 at a ratio of 80-percent dense compound and 20-percent MicroDense compound.

Within the coming two years, Cooper-Standard aims to transition to a 70/30 percent ratio.

"This shift not only provides customers with a lighter weight solution, but MicroDense products use less raw materials, helping reduce the overall carbon footprint of our products," Cooper-Standard said.

That's a win for Cooper-Standard customers and the company itself.

And when it comes to wins, there's also Fortrex.

Fortrex, which debuted in 2019 and immediately earned accolades for its sustainable innovation, shows significant sustainability improvements when compared to the traditional EPDM materials.

For instance, Fortrex shows a 30-percent reduction in mass compared to dense EPDM and a 10-percent reduction compared to dense thermoplastic vulcanizates. Plus, it's UV-stable and shows exceptional weathering performance, according to Cooper-Standard.

There's also that recyclability component of Fortrex, Clark said, noting that there are pieces inside Fortrex that are recyclable. And with the company focusing on further enhancing its sustainability, it's likely that the recyclability will only improve.

"We are working on Fortrex 2.0," Clark said. "We haven't put too much out there in the public just yet, but we really think that it will enhance the recyclability of the product as we go forward."

Improving recyclability is part of the equation. Because moving forward, Fortrex may even be produced with post-consumer recycled materials.

The company isn't quite there yet—it's still in the development phase with recycled materials—but it is exploring the possibility, according to Susan Byron, director of corporate strategy and sustainability for Cooper-Standard.

And Fortrex, of course, is just one example of how the company is harnessing innovation to take sustainability—and the automotive industry—a little bit further.

"We think that can provide multiple solutions for our customers, depending on what they want, from traditional to traditional with better a footprint to lighter weighting, and even new materials and so forth," Clark said. "And all of that contributes to bigger ambitions for (our customers) on the sealing front, which is better aesthetics, better sound management."

And while it's true that many of its products—such as sealing—won't see a huge impact on performance expectations from the transitions to electrification, the fluid handling side of Cooper-Standard's business will.

That's where that wealth of sustainable innovation makes a difference.

"We have been successful with a number of products that support this change, and a lot of that is our plastic resin solutions, but a lot of them do utilize an EPDM product as well," Clark said. "Pair some of that new innovation with the connection technology that we also have, and suddenly you have a product that crosses over weight, recyclability and energy use, one that supports range enhancements of the batteries."

Sustainable products may be the face of Cooper-Standard, but the manufacturing behind them matter, too.

Maybe even more.

That's why the foundation of Cooper-Standard's sustainability vision is rooted in safety and quality. Protecting employees is the No. 1 focus, Clark said, adding that the quality of manufacturing follows. And the company, he said, has made "tremendous" strides in both areas.

And both of those successes, he added, support more sustainable manufacturing strides.

"You can't have good quality without driving that back up stream, which means you have reduced scrap in the process; reduced landfill, which means reduced energy; and reduced waste," Clark said. "You continue to work your way through it. We have taken on an energy challenge to reduce our energy over time—that is one of our key initiatives to reduce the consumption of our energy."

And it is one small part of a much bigger picture.

"We have these near-term—within-five-years type of goals—but we also need to think about the bigger picture, the longer term things," Byron said. "And that is, all in all, how we approach our goals. We start with a materiality assessment and the three-to-five-year view, but we are also picking our heads up and looking forward."

Looking forward, she said, because you can't get where you need to be if you get caught up in the moment.

To that end, Cooper-Standard is developing and focusing on long-term aims that keep carbon neutrality in focus, Byron said. The company is focused on reducing its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and has created a committee devoted to reassessing and ensuring a well-defined path forward.

Ultimately, Clark noted, Cooper-Standard's ability to achieve its sustainability goals is rooted in its ability to step back, reassess, refocus and plan again.

"We all know where we want to get to, but we don't always have all the answers when we start out, so it is something that evolves," Clark said of the vision for moving forward. "We have to define that 'how'—how are we going to get there and what is necessary? Sometimes, technology has even developed that influences our 'how.'

"So for us, it is important to stay flexible, but it is important that we do deliver," he said. "We do have short-term objectives that take us on that path, and we continue to keep our focus on the long term—the 'how' and our actions behind it. And we leverage the 23,000 employees we have to help us get there."