Published: October 29, 2009 10:33 pm      

Tinnerman sold to French company

Company officials made announcement to employees Wednesday

The sale of Tinnerman Connection Engineering to French-based A Raymond is now official.

Mike Englert, Tinnerman’s Logansport plant manager, said the announcement was made to employees on Wednesday afternoon. The Logansport location is now known as A Raymond Tinnerman Manufacturing Inc.

Englert has positive feelings about the sale of the Ohio-based fastening manufacturer.

“I think what it does for us is give us a more solid future,” he said.

Englert said he believed A Raymond was looking for a metal presence in the United States and Tinnerman filled the bill.

“They are one of the largest metal stampers in Europe,” he explained. “They only have a plastic plant in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Tinnerman was a good fit and we do similar products.”

According to its Web site, A Raymond employs 3,200 people at 29 companies in 20 countries.

Both companies provide materials for the automotive industry.

Tinnerman is primarily an automotive stamper. Englert said the company also does work for the metal building industry, solar power, construction and mining.

“We probably have 800 to 900 part numbers we ship a year,” he said.

A Raymond has numerous products in Europe that Tinnerman can make in the United States, Englert said.

“They are very big in engineering and innovations,” he said. “They are consistently looking for new and improved way to do things for customers.”

Based on this, Englert feels the two companies make a good fit.

Tinnerman has been looking to make more of a presence outside of the United States.

“This gives us a good network outside of the U.S.,” Englert said. “We have some similar types of products, but mostly different types.”

Tinnerman has undergone multiple name changes over the years. Before its current name, the company was known as Tinnerman-Palnut, which bought the local facility from Textron Fastening Systems in 2005. The plant was also known as Elco-Textron and Elco Industries.

Englert is unsure what the future might hold, but he said the sale should allow workers to feel more secure in their jobs.

“This is definitely going to be a positive thing,” he said.

He is also unsure what changes may be made to the plant, saying it’s just too soon to know. Both companies are in a learning mode.

“The better offering you have for the customer, the stronger and more valuable you will be to your customer,” said Englert. “We will be a stronger company for our customer.”

• Denise Massie is a staff writer at the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5151 or denise.massie@pharostribune.com