Zeledyne Plans to Make Glass "Core Business," New CEO Says

Michael McCarney

Zeledyne LLC, which company officials announced yesterday had purchased Ford Automotive Components Holdings glass business and its plants, plans to make glass its "core business," Michael McCarney, the chief executive officer (CEO) for the Tulsa-based company, told USGNN.com™/USGlass magazine today. (CLICK HERE for related story.)

"The key in our strategy right now is that glass has been kind of a secondary business for both Ford when they owned it, Visteon when they owned it, and quite frankly even ACH under the Ford umbrella," he said. "But under the Zeledyne name plate, this is our core business."

With this new focus, the company also plans to upgrade much of the existing equipment at both its plants in Nashville, Tenn., and Tulsa, Okla.

"Two of our float lines have recently been rebuilt-our Nashville float and our T2 float in Tulsa is under construction right now, and we have plans for our third float in Tulsa. This is going to posture us very positively in the glass business," he said. "Essentially, we have a three-float company structure right now and all three will be brought up to the latest level and, by the end of next year, we'll have them all completely re-built."

All of the company's current brand names, including Versalux architectural glass, now will be branded with the Zeledyne name, effective immediately, according to McCarney.

Otherwise, though, no interruptions in production nor major personnel changes are expected.

Robert Price

"We're actually a privately owned company taking over the existing facilities and we're taking most of the existing employees with us," said McCarney, who brings 30 years experience with Ford to his new position. "We expect it to be a seamless transition."

While McCarney advised he couldn't reveal much about the company's strategic plans for the future, he noted that growing Zeledyne's original-equipment (OE) customer base will be a priority.

"We've got a very strong record of engineering and program management performance with the automotive and OE suppliers and we're going to be working very closely to broaden our OE customer base," he said.

He added, "We have an excellent team here in place. We're looking forward to taking the business forward."

The newly founded Zeledyne was created by Robert Price, a Tulsa-based private investor, who now serves as chair of the company.

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