Scottsburg, Indiana-based American Plastic Molding (APM) is a cutting-edge engineering and manufacturing company offering strengths in product development alongside core expertise in injection molding and assembly. This is a team that works together, with a twin focus on product realization and embracing essential values that directly contribute to ongoing success, growth, and diversity.
During its impressive 55 years in business, APM has expanded from a simple injection molder into a full-service manufacturing and product development company, with customer service forming the foundation for developing additional core skills in supply chain sourcing and project management.
Handling markets that include automotive, consumer/appliance, electric/utility, healthcare, industrial, lawn and garden, material handling, and office furniture, APM’s capabilities include injection molding, tooling/moldmaking (SMT), assembly and kitting, rubber gaskets and seals, insert molding, automation, visual inspection, overmolding, vibration welding, vertical molding, post mold decorating, design assistance, and supply chain management.
The company’s core values remain at the heart of daily operations; whether it’s integrity, purpose, teamwork, perseverance, or gratitude, it’s about communicating with unshakable candor, honesty, and respect, functioning with transparency, being motivated by meaningful work, and behaving with compassion and decency.
These goals have become easier to achieve since APM became employee-owned under an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2013, which in turn encouraged workers, boosted output, improved employee retention, maintained local employment, and supported business longevity.
“Employee ownership is at the heart of who we are,” says Lily Coomer, Controller. “Since becoming 100 percent employee-owned, we’ve built a culture where everyone understands they have a direct stake in our success. We often say there’s an owner in every seat, and that’s not just a slogan: it’s how we operate every day.”
In turn, APM’s employee-owners understand that their quality of work, the service they provide, and the decisions they make have a direct impact both on customers and on the future of the company collectively, she adds.
“What makes me most proud is the sense of responsibility and commitment that ownership creates,” says Coomer. “When people think and act like owners, they take greater pride in solving problems, helping teammates, and doing what’s right for the long term. That mindset is one of the reasons we’ve been able to build lasting customer relationships and create opportunities for our employees.”
APM is also fortunate to have an engaged board of directors that helps provide strategic oversight and long-term stewardship. Together, the board leadership team and employee-owners are working toward the same goal: building a stronger company that creates value for future generations of owners.
Michael Cook, President and CEO, agrees. “All of this is built around our company’s five core values that are very near and dear to our hearts: integrity, teamwork, purpose, perseverance, and gratitude. We’ve built behaviors around each of those core values that help embody how we work and how we demonstrate those core values. That’s really our foundation,” he says.
Indeed, the company’s commitment to its employees and its ESOP model has truly helped facilitate APM’s success. “It’s a great model,” Cook emphasizes. “For us, it’s something that was fully embraced and has enabled us to reward a lot of employees with generous financial commitments, and that goes both ways.” More growth for the company is also on the horizon, but with plans to grow “the right way with the right customers and for the right reasons,” he adds.
“We’re not just trying to grow for the sake of growing. We’ve focused on disciplined, profitable growth that creates opportunities for our employee-owners while still delivering exceptional service and value to our customers.”
That focus has resulted in investing in technology, automation, talent development, and leadership growth while also exploring and evaluating some strategic opportunities that can accelerate APM’s long-term vision. “Ultimately, our goal isn’t simply to become bigger,” says Cook. “It’s to become a stronger company to create more value for our customers, employees, and shareholders.”
Being a successful ESOP has also earned the team a sterling reputation in the industry, with the means to draw in new, qualified, and passionate employees. “We’re a 55-year-old business, and the value of the ESOP has spread amongst the community,” says Cook.
The challenge, however, is that some of the younger, newer employees don’t always see the value in that long-term ESOP ownership piece. To help alleviate that concern, APM has been showing new employees what value can look like for employees and what that means, not only long-term but short-term as well.
Drawing in outstanding employees bolsters the company’s ability to serve clients and provide total solutions within the industry. Many APM customers are looking for plastic injection molded parts, coupled with a partner who can help problem-solve for them. “That’s how we view our role,” says Cook. “We don’t want to just be another shoot-and-ship plastic injection molding company, and part of being a total solutions provider means we bring engineering support, tooling management, molding, assembly solutions, quality systems, automation, and supply chain management under one roof.”
APM is also dedicated to a number of community initiatives, with the company recently communicating to its employees that it will offer voluntary time off to participate in a charity they’re passionate about—or even one that APM sponsors—with up to eight hours of paid time to support that organization.
“It’s really encouraging employees so they don’t have to take their personal time and they can give back to the community during a normal working day,” says Human Resource Manager, Jennifer Donohue. “As a company, we’re also allocating a percentage of our earnings each year to go back to the community.” This initiative allows individuals within the organization to bring awareness to charities APM may not be familiar with, as well as encourage organizations throughout the community to approach APM for potential donations.
The response within the community has been positive all around. “Being a small, rural community, the opportunity for someone to have a day off and it not affect their pay is something that they really appreciate,” says Donohue. “Now people are trying to figure out where to support the community with what charity so they can take advantage of that opportunity.”
Although challenges over the past year have included labor availability, inflationary pressures—especially with some of the resin raw materials—supply chain disruptions, and changing customer demand, APM understands that the pace of change in manufacturing continues to accelerate, which requires businesses to adapt quickly while maintaining their operational excellence.
“I’m really happy and proud about it,” Cook says. “In the last year, we’ve strengthened our foundation while continuing to grow. We’ve doubled down on our EOS, the entrepreneurial operating system, working with an EOS implementer who’s helped us gain alignment, accountability, communication, and execution throughout the entire organization.”
In fact, APM has leveraged EOS across its entire organization, which has given the company a common language and a clear framework for turning its vision into action. It has also formulated a 10-year vision and a plan to achieve it.
“That’s been really instrumental in our ability to face the volatility and the challenges,” says Cook. “We’ve also launched a fair amount of new programs this year and continued to deepen our relationships with our existing customers. And really, none of that is possible without the engagement of our employee-owners.”
While growth is important to APM, the company aspires to go beyond financial performance to continue building a world-class employee-owned company that provides meaningful opportunities for current and future generations of employee-owners. Over the next several years, it hopes to expand within its target markets, strengthen relationships with key customers, develop future leaders, and continue investing in technologies and capabilities that support long-term success.
“We also plan to continue expanding on our EOS throughout the organization, so every team member benefits from greater clarity, accountability, and alignment,” says Coomer. “Most importantly, we want to continue increasing the long-term value of our ESOP. Every improvement we make as a company creates value for employee-owners, and that’s the one most rewarding aspect of being an employee-owned organization.”
Cook adds that what helps set APM apart within the industry is the three pillars of its culture, starting with an owner in every seat. “We feel very strongly about that,” he says. “Every person has a personal stake in the company’s success.”
The next pillar is the EOS system and the implementation of the daily, weekly, and monthly cadence of working through the most important issues day in and day out, he adds, along with holding themselves accountable with full transparency.
“The final pillar is our governance,” Cook says. “We benefit from having an engaged board of directors that brings valuable experience, strategic perspective, and long-term thinking to our organization.”
Essentially, that involvement helps APM make better decisions to stay focused on creating sustainable value. “We’re committed to being more than just a molding company,” says Cook. “Our customers rely on us to be a trusted manufacturing partner that helps them solve problems.”
It’s that ongoing dedication to both employee involvement and commitment to clientele that will continue to set APM apart for decades to come. “It’s an enjoyable place to work, and the team is fully engaged,” he adds.
Essentially, for APM customers, instead of them managing multiple suppliers and trying to coordinate solutions themselves, they can work with the company as a trusted partner from concept through production. “What it means for our customers is reduced complexity, faster decision making, and ultimately fewer headaches,” Cook says. “We’re committed to being more than just a molding company. Our customers rely on us to be a trusted manufacturing partner that helps them solve problems. That’s our mindset.”
