Chassix, the foundry and machining group formed earlier this year by the combination of Diversified Machine Inc. and SMW Automotive LLC, plans to close two of the former Diversified Machine operations in the first quarter of next year. The company has not made any public comment on the decision. The news is based on local reports and on a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) notice filed with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.
According to that filing, Diversified Machine’s closing in Milwaukee will affect 218 workers there.
The Milwaukee operation casts aluminum parts for automotive differential carriers, front engine covers, housing, intake manifolds, and transmission cases. The plant also has machining and assembly operations.
Separate reports indicate Chassix will close a machining plant in Northwest Ohio, also by April 2014. The Edon, Ohio, operation produces brackets, control arms, driveline yokes, housings, knuckles, transmission components, and wheel hubs. It also has assembly capabilities.
Last April, private investment group Platinum Equity combined its Diversified Machine Inc. and SMW Automotive LLC holdings into a $1.2-billion global enterprise with 3,600 employees at 25 plants in eight countries. Chassix was called “the largest chassis casting and machining company in the global automotive supply chain.”
Headquartered in Southfield, MI, the group has operations are in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, New York, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and offshore in Brazil (two plants), China (three plants,) France, Mexico, and Spain.