Great Lakes Castings Builds Stronger Leadership and Team Performance

Client Profile: Founded as a small local foundry in 1945, Great Lakes Castings has grown into an industry-leading manufacturer with facilities in Ludington and Holland, Michigan. Operating on 26 acres and employing more than 200 people, Great Lakes Casting specializes in gray iron and ductile iron castings for customers in the automotive, agriculture, construction, HVAC, refrigeration, pump, compressor, and valve industries.

Situation: As Great Lakes Castings (GLC) continued to grow, leadership identified opportunities to strengthen supervisory effectiveness and improve consistency across teams. Many supervisors had advanced into leadership roles without formal management training, making it challenging to consistently set expectations, manage performance, communicate effectively, and support employee development. Senior leadership engaged the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center-West (MMTC-West) to help build leadership capabilities and enhance organizational performance.

At the same time, the company relied on several labor-intensive production processes that required operators to repeatedly inspect, position, and move materials throughout the manufacturing cycle. These manual tasks limited workforce flexibility and created opportunities to improve productivity, quality, and capacity through automation. Existing lean manufacturing practices and PLC-controlled workstations provided a strong foundation for adopting more advanced technologies.

Solution: MMTC-West partnered with Great Lakes Castings on two initiatives designed to strengthen both people and process performance.

First, supervisors participated in the Master Supervisor Leadership Program, a comprehensive training initiative focused on building leadership effectiveness. Participants developed practical skills in communication, team building, performance management, project management, problem solving, coaching, and conflict resolution. The program equipped supervisors with tools to establish clear expectations, set meaningful performance metrics, conduct productive employee reviews, and lead more effectively.

MMTC-West also worked with Great Lakes Castings to evaluate advanced manufacturing technologies. After assessing systems integration, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and automation solutions, the team implemented a Robotic Molding Cell backed by a $25,000 MEDC Implementation Grant. The cell produces castings directly from 3D CAD without hard tooling, unlocking faster prototypes, short runs, and legacy parts. It increased capacity, sharpened efficiency, and freed skilled employees to focus on higher-value work that drives continued growth.

Results:

• By undergoing the Master Supervisor Leadership Training, they retained 5 Employees
• Created 2 new roles in the company in Engineering and Design
• From New Robot Addition
  • This will save 12-16 weeks in time for tooling builds. This takes launch time down to less than 2 weeks
  • This will save customers from $20,000 to $50,000 in tooling costs
  • This will create new sales for GLC in the $3M-$5M range
  • This will allow GLC to enter a severely underserved portion of the market (castings ranging from 75-250 pounds).
  • This will put GLC in a unique position to work with customers on DFM projects that can later be launched on our conventional molding lines in addition to the prototypes