About Us
Your Trusted Manufacturing Partner for the most demanding industries, specialized in plastic part design, component and assembly manufacturing.
For nearly 50 years, Chippewa Plastics has been trusted by the world's leading brands to serve the automotive, defense, industrial, and FDA-regulated industries.
We help customers from the design phase through production, and support the entire product lifecycle with our on-site tool room, production capabilities, and QC Lab.
Customer Focus
Under new ownership in 2024, Chippewa Plastics' Leadership team strategically hired industry experts to better serve our customers.
When you partner with Chippewa Plastics, you will work with a team that understands your needs and speaks your language. We are adept at both advising and executing.
More than just a plastics company, our team consists of former automotive buyers, health care professionals, and combat veterans, that have used many of the products we make for our customers, so we take our quality personally.
We have a deep understanding of our customer’s needs, drawing from our experience in their roles, and remaining ever curious to find new solutions to their problems.
Quality
Our commitment to Quality is unwavering. We make products that are used in critical applications and impact people's lives.
Exceeding industry standards for defect rate and on time delivery is our standard, and we work with our customers for further define what they need in a partner.
Chippewa Plastics maintains the following industry certifications:
- ISO 9001 - International Standard for Quality Management
- TS 16949 - Automotive Standard for Quality Management
Chippewa Plastics' has helped our customers meet the following requirements:
- ISO 13485 - Medical Device Manufacturing
- ISO 14971 - Application of Risk Management for Medical Devices
- ISO 11607 - Packaging for Terminally Sterilized Devices
- ISO 14001 - Environmental Management System
Quality Lab
At Chippewa Plastics, Quality is the key foundation of the value we provide to our customers. Possessing the proper metrology equipment is paramount to verifying requirements.
Current Equipment:
- Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM)
- Micro View Vision System
- Optical Gaging Comparator
- Granite Surface Plate
- Digital height gages
- Gage blocks & pins
- Digital calipers & micrometers
- MacBeth Booth & Spectrophotometer
- Impact Tester
- Humidity Chamber
- Moisture Analyzer
Safety
At Chippewa Plastics, safety is our top priority, both for our team and our customers. We are committed to providing our employees and staff with a safe and healthy working environment. We follow strict safety protocols and invest in the latest safety equipment and training to ensure that everyone is able to perform to their very best.
The Chippewa Team
We continually make investments in our team. Our engineering team has decades of experience leading R&D, tooling, and plastic injection molding programs for medical device OEMs, ranging from startups to Fortune 200 companies. Our team are listed as inventors on dozens of patents for injection molded components and assemblies, has authored and received clearance on 510(k)s, and defended validation efforts in FDA Inspections.
We’ve intentionally hired team members with decades of experience as end-users of healthcare products, and defense / weapon systems to better understand our customers.
We are a proud U.S. manufacturer committed to diversity and inclusion, striving to maintain a 15% veteran workforce as part of our dedication to being a veteran-friendly employer.
History
2010s-2020s:
- Chippewa Plastics Quality System earns ISO 9001 and TS 16949 certification, and introduces automation, as well as a high tonnage press range.
- Chippewa Plastics expands its manufacturing footprint to 90,000 sq. ft. to include a state of the art 12,000 sq. ft. tool room and QC Lab, capable of building 1500T tools.
- The company experiences a 4X growth during this time.
1990s-2010s:
- Chippewa Plastics becomes a Tier 1 to Chrysler (Stellantis) and Tier 2 supplier to luxury car brands, including Mercedes.
- This era marks the beginning of Chippewa’s Secondary Operations Programs (Value-add), providing more complete solutions for our automotive and furniture customers.
- On-site tool room is established for building injection molds.
1970s-1980s:
- Chippewa Plastics, named after the nearby Lake and River systems, began its story nearly 50 years ago, when we started manufacturing parts for the automotive and furniture industry based in West Michigan.
- Chippewa’s reputation as a reliable supplier enabled us to expand into industrial and defense sectors.