Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | FEBRUARY 5, 2024 13 Michael Ritzenhoff is the owner and chairman of metal fabrication manufacturer Seidel Group, which has grown through four acquisitions. HBJ PHOTOS | STEVE LASCHEVER Vertical Integration Waterbury manufacturer Seidel pushes back against offshoring with major local expansion customer base fade to three area manufacturers. To secure its future, Seidel planned to buy these compa- nies, as well as a Torrington business that produces plastic components. "When we started, the customers who made the metal parts basically sent their parts to us and said: 'Please finish them and make them gold, shiny, silver, satin — and then they sold them to the customers," Ritzenhoff said. "We came to the conclusion that we needed a new vision, and basically the vision was to create a vertically integrated one-stop shop." That integration promises to trim production costs and provide a more resilient supply chain, a premium offering considering ongoing global disruptions that started with the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy launched about eight years ago with the purchase of Romatic Manufacturing, a metal-stamping company based in Southbury. Next, Seidel bought metal-fabrication manufacturer Eyelet Crafters, which operated out of a roughly 30,000-square-foot building in Waterbury's South End. That was followed by the acqui- sition of metal-fabrication company Eyelet Design Inc., which operates in a 120,000-square-foot building next to Waterbury's Brass Mill Center mall. The latest acquisition came in 2021, with the purchase of Torrington- based Quest Plastics. Over eight years, the company has grown from about 65 employees to 170. Seidel officials declined to disclose annual revenues. Seidel President Brian Stach said the company's vertical integration prompted Bath & Body Works to increase its order from about 1 million to 1.5 million units of spray pumps and caps in 2023. Now, Bath & Body Works' orders are on track to top 2.5 million units in 2024, he said. Other companies are also increasing their orders, Stach said. With greater control over produc- tion, Seidel is hoping to tap new opportunities in new industries. That could include making unique caps for specialty beverage companies, components for the nutritional industry, or more work with the medical sector. By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com F or Waterbury-based Seidel Group, the answer to a long-running trend of manu- facturing migrating to Asia and south of the border has been to expand, acquire other companies and build a new facility. "We merged basically five compa- nies" over the course of eight years, said 69-year-old Michael Ritzen- hoff, owner and chairman of the Seidel Group, which specializes in metal forming, anodizing and deco- rative finishing for aluminum alloy parts across various industries. "The vision you could say was insane," Ritzenhoff joked. "Either this guy is too old and is insane, or it was a really bold vision. I prefer the second." So far, it would seem the latter is correct. Ritzenhoff said his sales base is expanding with customers who appreciate the efficiency and vertical integration of the expanded company. Without the move, the manufac- turers that once depended on Seidel to finish their metal goods could have disappeared, followed by Seidel itself, he said. Far and away, Seidel receives most of its demand from the cosmetics industry. Annually, it churns out hundreds of millions of caps and collars that go on spray bottles and other containers. Through direct sales and intermedi- aries, Seidel parts are found in most of the major brands, including Revlon, Estée Lauder, L'Oréal and others. Seidel also makes threaded connectors that go at the end of garden hoses. Once made of brass, these are mostly anodized aluminum today. The company has, in the past, made parts for pharmaceutical and automotive applications. Supply chain resilience Ritzenhoff came to Waterbury from Germany in 1986, bringing an offshoot of his father's elec- tropolishing and anodizing coating company to the Naugatuck Valley. He founded Seidel Inc. — now the Seidel Group — in a building that had once been part of the mammoth Chase Brass & Copper Co. metal- works complex off Thomaston Avenue, along the eastern bank of the Naugatuck River. The idea was to be close to customers. In those early years, the Naugatuck Valley was one of the country's top centers for metal stamping and eyelet production, and a key source of material for the cosmetics industry. At least 15 companies fed Seidel parts for buffing and coating. As competition picked up from lower-cost manufacturers in Asia and Latin America, Seidel saw its main SEIDEL GROUP Industry: Manufacturing/metal fabrication Top Executive: Michael Ritzen- hoff, Owner & Chairman HQ: 2223 Thomaston Ave., Waterbury Website: www.seidelgroup.com Contact: 203-757-7349 A Seidel Group employee working in the company's Waterbury manufacturing plant.

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