GOODLAND, INDIANA – JULY 2025 – Injection molding specialist Adkev of Goodland, IN has acquired Winzeler Gear of Harwood Heights, IL in a deal that will open doors to new markets for the acquirer as it closes a chapter of ownership going back 85 years. Founded in 1987, Adkev’s first acquisition brings together two financially stable, family-owned companies on organic growth trajectories looking for new opportunities.
Winzeler Gear was founded in 1940 in Chicago as a producer of stamped metal gears. In the 1960s and 1970s, the company shifted its focus to plastic gears and is now recognized internationally as a leading manufacturer of precision injection molded gears for the automotive industry. Winzeler Gear has over 40 full-time employees, 42 injection molding machines, and a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Harwood Heights, IL capable of molding more than 150 million plastic gears each year. Retiring president/CEO John Winzeler ran Winzeler Gear for nearly four decades.
With more than $100 million in annual sales to the automotive, industrial and appliance markets, Adkev ranks No. 85 among North American injection molding companies, according to Plastics News‘ latest ranking.
With the capabilities of Winzeler Gear, Adkev will be able to offer a more complete manufacturing solution for plastic actuator systems and pursue opportunities in the automotive, appliance and power equipment markets, according to Mike Greeby, Adkev’s vice president of business development. “This is a great story of Midwest manufacturers that have thrived and now for each part to grow, they need to come together. The acquisition makes sense,” Greeby said in a phone interview.
Winzeler Gear molds only the plastic gears generally used in actuator systems for seats, mirrors, controls and handles, while Adkev produces actuator system components and housings, but not gears.
Now that the companies are under the same umbrella, Adkev can deliver a more complete solution to the customers. Adkev officials had been looking for a technical competency to open up new products segments at the same time that Winzeler Gear was searching for the right acquisition partner — preferably family-owned for its operation, which offers a narrow discipline most injection molding companies can’t or won’t do.
All of the Winzeler employees will remain with the organization and Adkev will continue operating Winzeler’s plant in Harwood Heights over the long term. All active Winzeler Gear customers will continue to be served by Adkev.
Plastics-focused investment banking firm MBS Advisors of Florence, MA represented Winzeler Gear in the transaction.
Adkev now has 424 employees operating out three facilities with 166 injection molding machines that produce 188 million parts per year for mostly the automotive market but also appliances, industrial and other markets.
The two production molding plants in Indiana, one in Kentucky, and a tooling operation in Elkhart, Ind., give Adkev nearly 600,000 square feet of total manufacturing space.
John Winzeler said his transition to retirement will be gradual. He will be consulting with Adkev to facilitate a successful transition with his current customers and staying active in the industry. “I have a passion for promoting careers in manufacturing and concerns with attracting future generations of technical ‘hands on’ plastics professionals,” Winzeler said. When he reflects on his nearly 40 years of heading the business, many of the highlights were part of the everyday routine: assisting clients design and develop innovative gear driven products, building people and making them successful, and creating strategic partnerships. Through it all, Winzeler pulled off another feat that would be point of pride for anyone in the plastics industry: “being the caretaker of an 85-year-old debt free, family business.” Now he plans to study modern art and architecture, travel, spend more time with his daughters and grandkids, and attend more Formula One races with his wife. “We enjoy following Formula One, the first industry to master Industry 4.0,” Winzeler said.
Several excerpts from above were borrowed from Adkev’s Press Release and/or the Plastics News article reporting on the transaction.