Parallels between Motown and Motor City Stamping: From humble beginnings to greatness in Detroit

The Motown studios and museum comprises two modest-looking, two-story houses on a busy street close to the road, and belie the magical, emotive music that lilted from those buildings.

When visiting and interviewing the July/August STAMPING Journal’s cover story subject, Motor City Stamping, I experienced a deja-vu moment. When I drove to the company’s location, I felt compelled to double check the address.

On a busy street in Chesterfield, Mich., two modest-looking, tan brick buildings with a narrow lane between them and small arched windows sit close to the road. They could be mistaken for a quick-print shop or a local insurance agency. The inconspicuous building fronts belie their actual size—360,000 sq. ft.—the robust stamping manufacturing activity within them, and the continuous growth of the company therein.

I couldn’t help but recall having the same reaction while visiting another Detroit enterprise; Motown recording studios. Two modest-looking, two-story houses sit on a busy street close to the road, and belie the magical, emotive music that lilted from those buildings. Musicians and singers would drift in all hours of the day and night to put to vinyl their inspired lyrics and melodies.

The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Mary Wells, Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, and The Spinners recorded some of the greatest music that defined the ‘60s … but you would never guess it by viewing those two Victorian-style houses.

Many readers may have been born too late to have been moved by the classic Motown Sound, but I knew it by heart. Simple songs told simple stories about my girl and my guy, dancing in the streets, up on the roof, imagination, dreams, and memories. It was singin’ and crusin’, love and heartache—a mesmerizing blend of pop and R&B, catchy melodies, strong rhythm, driving bass, and a foot-tapping beat, hand clapping and tambourine shaking. The music lifted you up and transported you to another place. It was liquid emotion.

Out of Scarcity; Growth

Though short on capital to start with, Motown was long on talent and ingenuity. The studio had a very simple recording setup. An opening was cut in the ceiling to capture the reverberation created by the sound waves bouncing around in the attic. They called it the “echo chamber.”

Likewise, Motor City Stamping started small. It has grown as it has applied ingenuity to problem-solving, and an eagerness to excel.

Difficult bends? No problem. Impossible forms that must be pressed in all directions? Not impossible. Massive quantities in no time? We’ve got time for that. Stamp plate-thick steel? Foil-thin material? Insert-threaded nuts? We can do it, and if we don’t know how to, we’ll figure it out.

Motor City Stamping’s buildings have sprawled out, and additional presses and equipment have been added on throughout its 50 years. Through ingenuity and old-fashioned hard work, it has met and exceeded the expectations of a giant automaker, even as it has expanded and changed over time. Read the fascinating cover story about Motor City Stamping.

When more than half of your revenue has been from manufacturing tube for automotive exhaust systems, and then you realize that revenue source will be waning over the next decade, you’d better have an ingenious idea. Tube mill and fabricator fischer group assessed the future of automotive and determined that exhaust systems eventually would be phased out with the emergence of electric vehicles. As a result, it made a huge leap and began hot stamping high-strength aluminum components for electric vehicles. Read "Exhaust supplier merges into new lane as hot stamper."

Press controls have been re-engineered to help stamping manufacturers grapple with today’s personnel and automation challenges. Read "How stamping press controls have evolved to keep up with automation."

Growth is rarely easy and with growth come growth pains. But ingenuity, hard work, and a whole lotta soul can level the field so that there ain't no mountain high enough.