Piston Automotive Cranking Ahead

DETROIT--Piston Automotive, which has a joint venture with Lear Corp. to manage parts inventory for General Motors, has added three members to its senior management team as the company prepares for significant growth over the next several years, said CEO Vinnie Johnson, a former all-time Detroit Piston basketball great.

The Lear jojoint venture with Lear, called JL Automotive LLC, is to provide sequencing of door-trim panels, sun visors and headliner fabric in vehicles built at GM plants in Hamtramck and Lake Orion, Mich.

The 146,000 square-foot facility is to initially employ 158 people and add another 123 workers over the next two years as the work expands.

“The future is very bright for Piston Automotive,” said Johnson. “The expansion over the last couple of years has been tremendous and our future business opportunities also appear to be limitless. With that in mind, it was necessary to add key senior management personnel, enabling Piston Automotive to remain a key player in the automotive industry.”

Tom Chambers will join Piston as president in January. Chambers, with more than 35 years of experience in the automotive business, has worked in senior management positions with Delphi, ITT Automotive and most recently at GKN Automotive. Chambers will oversee the day-to-day activities of Piston.

Bruce Smith joined Piston on Sept. 1 as vice president, responsible for finance, business development, human resources and information technology. A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon with a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and a graduate degree from Harvard, Smith has more than 15 years of automotive business experience. He will eventually report to Chambers.

Completing the Piston senior management team is Vice President Tom Worswick, who has been with the company the last two years. Worswick is directly responsible for operations, manufacturing engineering, purchasing, quality and materials management. After receiving a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Worswick gained his graduate degree from Stanford University. Worswick also will report to Chambers.