A few Memorial Day facts about Michigan manufacturing

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I interviewed a cutting tool salesman from Michigan 20 years ago for an article I was writing about machining high-silicon aluminum automotive parts. He told me something that initially I thought was a factoid—an assumed truth—but have since come to believe is closer to fact than fiction.

Upon learning I hailed from the Great Lakes State, too, he said, “If you’re in manufacturing, you’re from Michigan or you work in Michigan or one day you’ll work for a company based in Michigan.” I have been reminded of his comment dozens of times the past two decades.

One time occurred shortly after I began working at The Additive Report nearly three years ago. I was visiting the headquarters of measuring-system manufacturer Faro Technologies, located in Lake Mary, Fla. I met with four company employees; three had been born in Michigan and the fourth worked for a firm located in the state before joining Faro. So there we were, me and four strangers meeting for the first time in a small town 1,200 miles from Detroit—all brought together because we worked in the manufacturing industry.

More recent examples of this phenomenon are slated to appear in the next issue of The Additive Report. We will be publishing interviews with two additive manufacturers who have connections to the state. One is Kevin Baughey, a Michigander who currently heads the motorsports and transportation department for 3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems. The other is Jim Reddy, director of 3D printing solutions for BASF North America, headquartered in Wyandotte, Mich.

Growing up fewer than 10 miles from Detroit in the 1960s and ’70s, I understood manufacturing’s influence on the region and its inhabitants. Most of my friends’ fathers worked in the auto industry—at one of the Big Three or a Tier 1, 2, or 3 supplier.

My paternal grandfather was a metalworker. My maternal grandfather, Arnold, a World War I veteran, worked at a Ford plant in Detroit for many years. His employment spanned World War II, when the factory turned its attention from building cars to producing equipment that supported the war effort.

Arnold wanted to quit Ford but felt it would be unpatriotic to do so during wartime. He left the company the day after the war ended.

My mom also contributed to the nation’s manufacturing efforts during WWII. She spent some of her teen years working at the Detroit Tank Arsenal. The Warren, Mich., plant built 22,234 tanks during the war.

I’m proud of Michigan’s manufacturing heritage. Especially around Memorial Day, when I remember how members of my family and community stepped up when their country asked them to.