50 YEARS

SHAPING AN INDUSTRY

Since 1968, Trans-Matic has differentiated itself as one of the world’s premier deep draw metal stamping companies. Ours is a story defined by hard work, ingenuity and putting our people first. It’s a story stamped with trust and just beginning. This is Trans-Matic, where metal takes shape.

OUR STORY

1968

FOUNDED BY PAT THOMPSON

The Thompson family sells their house in Chicago to start a deep draw metal company in Holland, MI. The company is new and undercapitalized, but its people are filled with hope and determination. At the end of the year, founder Pat Thompson sits down with the company accountant and discovers Trans-Matic had turned a small first-year profit: $699.

1970

COMPANY PROJECT FOR A FEW GOOD MEN

The DOD waits by the front door as Pat Thompson arrives to work one morning, sending Trans-Matic on one of the most unexpected and significant projects of the last 50 years. Through the Honeywell project, the team at Trans-Matic has the chance to support the boys over in Vietnam: an opportunity they never forget.

1977

GROUND BREAKING of new Holland, MI Plant

As the first company in the area and the metalforming industry with a profit-sharing program, Trans-Matic communicates a new kind of care and support for company employees and moves their headquarters to the current 48th Street location in Holland, MI.

1989

PAT THOMPSON APPOINTED PMA CHAIR

The Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) is the full-service trade association representing the multibillion dollar metalforming industry of North America. Pat Thompson steps up as PMA Chair to help lead the association at an exciting time–just a couple of years prior to the association’s first Automotive Parts Suppliers Conference in Detroit, MI.

1998

Expansion of holland facility

Holland facility nearly doubles to 238,000 square feet with fresh capacity for transfer and progressive presses as well as value add and value engineering solutions. This growth was spurred by the global manufacturing trend of outsourcing production to suppliers for highly skilled, capital-intensive work. 

2002

PJ THOMPSON APPOINTED COMPANY PRESIDENT

PJ Thompson continues the company legacy by bringing the same fiscal responsibility and mission for growth as his father, but with a vision for Trans-Matic’s future that is distinctly his own.

2006

OPENING OF SUZHOU, CHINA FACILITY

For the first time, Trans-Matic expands to a new continent in order to better supply Asian clients with locally sourced parts at a location closer to home. Trans-Matic’s strategy is to supply deep-draw component parts to the local market.

2012

PJ THOMPSON APPOINTED PMA CHAIR

PJ aids the PMA in continuing to realize its mission to shape the environment of the metalforming industry, leading innovative member companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability.