Mosingo comes full circle with C&A, Cadence

In the end it wasn’t Wilbur Ross who moved on Tier One automotive supplier Collins & Aikman’s (C&A; Southfield, MI) North American interior’s operation, but its former CEO, Jerry Mosingo and his new employer Cadence Innovation (Troy, MI) who stepped in to take over his old operation. Mosingo, who was executive vice president for global manufacturing at the former Textron trim division when it was acquired by C&A in 2002, became the president, CEO, and a board member for C&A after it purchased the business. In May 2003, he was fired by C&A, and moved on in early 2004 to become COO of American Specialty Corp. In 2005, he became CEO of Cadence, which was formed in May 2005 from the purchased assets of bankrupt automotive supplier New Venture Holdings.

Since Mosingo left, C&A declared bankruptcy on May 17, 2005, and it has gone through two CEO’s: first, David Stockman, who was forced out by the company’s board in May 2005, and then Frank Macher, who led the company through the initial phases of its reorganization, before resigning on Jan. 31, 2007. Charles Becker acted as interim CEO between Stockman’s and Macher’s tenures. In that time, the company also saw Dennis Profitt come on as the president of plastics operations, leaving Ford Motor Co. to do so, before he stepped down after seven months. James Wynalek, who joined C&A in 2006 from Dell Computers, took over for Profitt, leaving his position as executive VP and chief technology officer at C&A.

In January 2006, C&A announced a dual-track route to its emergence, wherein it would reorganize as a standalone entity or sell or merge some or all of its interest. The company has already sold its European interior-trim operations to Wilbur Ross’s International Automotive Components business, and in December 2006, it announced that it had selected a lead bidder for its automotive flooring and acoustic components business. The so-called “soft trim” business operated 14 facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, employing 4100. In late 2005, C&A shut down its Sterling Heights, MI moldmaking plant, which employed 140.

The deal with Cadence still requires satisfactory completion of due diligence, agreement with customers and unions, shareholder approval, and approval of the bid by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The letter of intent includes nine C&A plants in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, which employ 3500.

Cadence had $1 billion in revenue in 2005, generated by 17 facilities in the U.S. and Czech Republic. The company employs 4200 in the molding and assembly of instrument panels, cockpits, doors, door modules, exterior fascia and trim, and cargo-management systems. At NPE 2006, Cadence announced that it had ordered 23 machines for its new 735,000-sq-ft Chesterfield Township, MI plant in November 2005 from Demag Plastics Group (DPG; Strongsville, OH). The machines ranged in size from 300 to 2200 tons.—[email protected]