Owner seeks to convince customers to go plastic, replace metal parts

By: Charlie Mathews, Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — It will be very quiet this week at MCM Composites, with not one of its 45 thermoset plastic presses creating parts by the hundreds or millions.

"In this economy, when you're going to have no revenue, you have to cut your expenses as much as possible," owner Michael Fredrich said Wednesday.

In addition to him, just two of 46 employees will be at work at the manufacturing plant on 41st Street — office staff processing financial paperwork and, possibly, taking orders.

But Fredrich isn't complaining about the roller-coaster dips and twists of the free-market, capitalist system. He's not seeking any government subsidies, bailouts, or even contracts with his customers.

"We don't need contracts … we'll perform, make good parts with good service at a fair price," said Fredrich, who spends Monday through Thursday nights at the local Comfort Inn before spending weekends at his home with his wife in the country near Fond du Lac.

Fredrich remains optimistic long-term about the success of the company which has customers in automation, aerospace, electrical, defense, engine and consumer products.

Precision parts, ranging from a half-gram to 30 pounds, come out of MCM Composites' 65,000-square-foot plant including fry pan handles and coffee pot bases, handles and knobs, headlamp and emergency oxygen canister housings, coil covers for high-performance Ford GT500s, and parts for the 2012 Ford hybrid.

Thermoset attributes

The thermoset process uses a variety of resins, similar to thermoplastic but with a crucial difference.
Fredrich said when the molecules are heated under temperature and pressure, they "crosslink," giving the end product characteristics that can't be achieved in thermoplastic.

"Our parts don't conduct electricity, are impervious to heat and hydrocarbons, have dimensional stability and mechanical strength," said Fredrich.

Thermoset is like pancake batter, he explained. "Once you make a pancake, you can't go back to batter," he said of the process that uses compression transfer and injection mold presses.

In 2001, Fredrich acquired Manitowoc Custom Molding, founded in 1983, with a former partner, who he bought out in 2006.

Fredrich said he's changed the name to MCM Composites to reflect its present and future business focus.

New applications include designing thermoset parts that will replace machined aluminum or steel parts, including those requiring strength at temperatures up to 500 degrees, or molded piece assemblies that can be designed as one component.

"We will take parts of other company's products, create a prototype (replacement thermoset part), and go back to the company," said Fredrich, who has a master's in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"We'll tell them, 'We can sell you this part for X dollars, which we know is less than you're paying. It will perform as well or better and be cheaper,'" he said.

"If you sit back and expect things to get better, you're going to die," Fredrich said. "You've got to make things happen."

Invest to meet competition

Fredrich said he does have domestic competition. "We have invested a lot of money for technology for our plant, about $600,000 last year for capital equipment.

"Plus, we have the right, technologically competent people," Fredrich said, citing three newer key personnel as Todd Kocher, production manager; Greg Pari, technical sales; and Brian Lambert, manager of quality and engineering.

Fredrich also has several veterans who have been with the company for more than 25 years.

"When new tools arrive, it's a challenge to figure out how to run the pressures with the right settings," said Gary Brandl, a production engineer and troubleshooter since 1983.

Kathy Rutherford also is a quarter-century veteran. "We've really grown … the whole plant used to fit around one lunchroom," she said. "Now, we have more variety, more customers."

But not more people on the job. "Not too many years ago, we had over 100 employees," Fredrich said. "Our volume is down but we're producing the same amount of revenue with half as many people."

He said MCM Composites certainly can't compete with China when it comes to labor rates. But other factors work in his company's favor.

"Regal Ware (a cookware company) has moved production of handles and knobs back here," Fredrich said.
"It's not just about piece part cost … you have shipping, response time, and the need to maintain critical inventory levels.

"If Regal Ware gets an order this week for a certain line of cookware, we can have them parts in a week … they don't have to wait 30 days for a container load to arrive from China," Fredrich said, with his constant companion, 6-year-old Nicholas, an English shepherd dog at his feet.

Fly upside down

MCM Composites business cards declare, "Ideas to Reality" on the front.

On the back is a quotation from former President Ronald Reagan — "There is no limit to what can be accomplished if you don't care who gets the credit."

Visitors to the plant park their cars in spaces with a "God Bless America" sign at the front of each one.

On six poles are flags representing the Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force, as well as a P.O.W.-M.I.A. flag, one reading "Don't Tread on Me" and the stars and stripes.

"Our capitalist, free market system is under attack by the current regime in Washington who want to vilify the so-called rich of this country," Fredrich said. "Many of the 'rich' people are small businesses, like ours.

"Every dollar the government spends, it takes either from you as individual in the form of taxes, or borrows it or prints it … the private sector is burdened by paying for an ever-expanding government," he said.

Fredrich said he might fly his American flag upside down this week, as a sign of the distress he feels the nation is in because of its current leadership.

"What's enjoyable? I have never had one day since we bought the company where I have woken up and said, 'I don't want to go to work.'

"I love going to work," Fredrich said. "I love going to work. I love business. I love private sector challenges. I like to play golf and I like my dog."

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