Henniges Automotive brings home back-to-back General Motors Supplier Quality Awards
TILLMAN COUNTY
FREDERICK - Automotive seal and anti-vibration products manufacturer Henniges Automotive may have plants around the world, but the industry wouldn’t be the same without southwestern Oklahoma. Henniges Automotive precisely manufactures products to help keep wind, dirt and rain out of vehicles and cut down vibration and road noise.
“Every 2019 Chevy truck in the world has a seal made here in Frederick,” said Henniges Automotive Human Resources Manager Chase Massie. “Here in Frederick, we are about 80% GM and 20% Chrysler,” he added.
Frederick’s300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility has eight extrusion lines, as well as molding and finishing operations. Most Chevy and GMC regular, extended and crew cab trucks, as well as several Chevy SUVs and Cadillac models; Chrysler Town and Country, Dodge Grand Caravan and Volkswagen Routon seals were made in Oklahoma. Henniges’ other facilities make sealing products for Audi, BMW and Tesla to name a few.
$55 MILLION IN SALES
Back-to-back GM Supplier Quality Award winner Henniges Automotive of Frederick, Oklahoma “generates about $55 million in sales from this plant alone … and we’re one of the smaller plants,” Massie said proudly. Henniges took home the General Motors award for both 2017 and 2018.
Henniges of Frederick employs about 315 men and women who keep up with the auto industry’s demands. Three shifts keep the plant running 24 hours a day, five or six days a week, depending on customer orders.
PARTNERS WITH GPTC
While the plant is currently close to fully staffed, last year, Henniges partnered with Great Plains Technology Center to create a six-week ‘Introduction to Manufacturing’ course tailored to Henniges’ needs. The course is offered four times a year and is divided- three weeks in the classroom and three weeks on-the-job training to help with retention.
Applicants pay a tuition; but once hired, they are compensated at a higher rate than those who have not taken the course. Available for up to a dozen applicants, the program is considered a success and is continuously full.
Preparations to open a satellite location in Lawton were put on hold following General Motors’ recent plant closures and mass layoffs. While that certainly changed Henniges’ plans, Massie remains optimistic in thinking the project will most likely develop in the next few years.
Community interaction is important to Henniges employees. The company hosts two annual food drives for the Frederick Food Bank as well as a hygiene drive to deliver soaps, shampoo, deodorant and oral care products to those in need.
Henniges is a proud sponsor of Frederick Public Schools, and lead sponsor for the Frederick robotics team, Bomber Robotics who went to the world competition earlier this year. The company sponsored the first Frederick Community Clean Up last year and are expecting even more participation this year. They also are President’s Partner of Cameron University, and host internships with Cameron University and Great Plains Technology Center. Henniges also participates in Spirit of Survival 5K for Cancer Centers of Southwest Oklahoma.
Henniges is celebrating the plant’s 40 years of service in Frederick. Since starting production in 1979, the plant has gone through some changes in ownership, but the workforce of southwest Oklahoma has kept the plant fully functional.
On Saturday, July 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Henniges will host an open house celebration complete with plant tours and will showcase the vehicles the plant produces seals for, and food trucks.