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MiMfg Magazine
March 2018
Member
Spotlight
Volker Krebs
Adient
Member since September 2017 • Employs 11,000 Michigan workers • Learn more at www.adient.com
If you aren’t moving forward,
you’re falling behind. Michigan
manufacturers understand this and
dedicate their company resources
toward continuous improvements
— improvements to processes and
technologies used, quality standards,
customer service and overall brand
reputation. When your business
lives or dies with every decision,
nothing is ever just okay. You can
always do better, you can always be
better and, if reinventing your
brand keeps you competitive, it
could be well worth the risk.
“Adient is looking to the
future,” says Volker Krebs, vice
president of Adient’s Americas
Seating division. “Our brand may
be new but we are providing our
customers with the same high level
of personal service they’ve come to
expect from us as the world’s largest
automotive seating supplier.”
The company now known as
Adient was a part of Johnson
Controls before spinning off in
2016. They have a new feel and a
new vision, but the superior quality,
technology and performance of their
products are as impressive as ever.
The footprint of Adient can be
found worldwide, producing 25
million seat systems per year and
employing more than 86,000
individuals across 250 global
locations. The company offers a
comprehensive portfolio of products
for vehicle interiors — complete
seat systems, JIT assembly, trim,
foam, metals and specialty seating.
“Adient is committed to focusing
on the strategies, investments,
products and market segments that
make the most sense for our seating
business and our customers,” says
Krebs. “As the development of
autonomous vehicles continues to
grow and people spend more time
in non-driving activities, the vehicle
interior will play an even more
important role.”
For Krebs and his team, their
focus isn’t only on the needs of
today’s customer, but on what
tomorrow’s customer might want.
“We have a very open, collaborative
culture and our teams embrace new
ideas and new trends — that creates
countless opportunities for our
employees to be at the forefront of
innovation,” Krebs says, explaining
the purpose behind the company’s
recent acquisitions, investments and
partnerships throughout Michigan.
“Manufacturing is changing and
you have to keep up if you are
going to lead.”
Adient donated $2.8 million to the Detroit Police Athletic League’s (PAL)
Cutline
stadium at the
site of historic Tiger Stadium and Volker Krebs (third
from left) and team paused for a photo with Detroit Tigers mascot Paws.
Last year, Adient announced
plans to move its global
headquarters to Detroit,
purchasing the region’s
historic 10-story, 164,000-
square-foot Marquette
Building located across from
Cobo Center. Renovations to
the building have begun and
will bring more than 500
career opportunities to the
Motor City in 2019. The
move makes Adient the first
Fortune 500 company to
establish headquarters in
Detroit since 2003.
“I’ve always been passionate
about the automotive industry,”
says Krebs. “I think it’s only
fitting that we locate Adient’s
global headquarters in Michigan
because it is at the heart of the
automotive industry and it
sets us up well for the future.”
Additional developments
include a nearly 100,000-
square-foot expansion to the
company’s Plymouth Technical
Center to serve as a state-of-
the-art engineering, design
and advanced technical center
workspace for more than 1,200
employees. Adient’s exciting,
future-focused environment
makes the company an
employer of choice for many
of Michigan’s young talent.
“We have a clear direction
and we’re communicating
that vision to our employees
and to the Southeast Michigan
community,” explains Krebs.
“We’ve done a lot in the last
year to make the Adient name
mean something — it’s an
innovative brand on the
forefront of manufacturing’s
next great era and you’ll be
hearing a lot about us in the
years to come.”
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