Local workers who once welded engine racks for the auto industry may soon be stamping sheet metal for Boeing airplane roofs or NASA rocket platforms.
That's the plan under way at former auto supplier W Industries, which is capitalizing on the dormant automotive base here to buy cheap facilities, win manufacturing contracts and employ precision workers.
W Industries, a private company headquartered at Eight Mile and Hoover in Detroit, aims to keep production in the mitten and harbors dreams of resurrecting the city through diversification into more robust industries with lower volumes but higher profits.
Like other local components makers, W Industries hopes to mobilize the region's tens of thousands of unemployed autoworkers, from line workers to engineers, to create a manufacturing hub for aerospace, defense and alternative energy.
"Our goal is to refurbish and retool former automotive facilities and retain talent with the latest technology," said chief executive Edward Walker.
Article by Jaclyn Trop / The Detroit News
Latest from Aerospace Manufacturing and Design
- Archer to test Starlink onboard its Midnight air taxis
- System eliminates cage-creep in sliding bearings
- Bodo Möller Chemie signs worldwide supply contract with Airbus
- Sandvik Coromant's CoroTurn Plus turning adapter
- ZOLLER Technology Days & Smart Manufacturing Summit May 13-14, 2026 in Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Walter's TC620 Supreme multi-row thread mill family
- ThermOmegaTech achieves CMMC Level 2 C3PAO certification
- One-touch precision flex locators
