For Vinnie Johnson, a new game beckons

Vinnie Johnson, the celebrated sixth man for the Detroit Pistons teams that won NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, was nicknamed the "Microwave" for his ability to come off the bench and instantly heat up the offense.

He's doing it again.

Johnson's suburban Detroit auto parts business, Piston Group, last year paid a reported $175 million to acquire Irvin Automotive Products, a suburban Detroit supplier of interior trim and seating components, from the troubled Japanese airbag supplier Takata Corp.

Plenty of bigger acquisitions have made news of late. But Johnson's deal is a potential game changer for him, transforming his privately held Piston Group — a certified minority business enterprise, or MBE, focused primarily on assembly work — into a major league auto industry supplier with a shot at supporting vehicle programs globally.

If so, it will be a whole new ballgame for Johnson. The company is at the threshold of becoming not merely an MBE that is larger, but potentially a formidable global supplier that happens to be an MBE.

The Irvin acquisition increased Piston Group's annual sales from $1.3 billion to about $1.8 billion. Johnson expects the combined sales to exceed $2.6 billion in 2018. That revenue would put his company among the 75 or so biggest auto suppliers in the world, based on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers.

The deal took Johnson from 1,300 employees to 8,300 — not all of them dedicated to automotive — and added world-class manufacturing operations to Piston Group's assembly and sequencing operations. The company now runs 15 plants in North America.

The new question: Where does Johnson go now?

"My entire career in sports, I was willing to make adjustments," he told Automotive News at his company's low-profile corporate offices in Redford, Mich. "I know what I'm good at and I know what I'm not good at.

"I'm an ex-jock," the 61-year-old Johnson said. "I know that. But I also know if you put a good team around you, you can accomplish anything."

The conversations with customers are underway.

"Our customers are saying we have to be global if we want to compete," Johnson said. "We've been looking at China — we have a couple of opportunities with Ford over there — as well as at Europe.

"If you want to stay in this business, you don't have a choice but to be a global player."

He is also contemplating a move deeper into technology innovation.

"It's something the customer is asking for today. To really get to the next level, we've got to bring some ideas and innovations," he said. "OEMs are looking for suppliers to be creative and bring things they don't have today that would make them a better OEM."

Johnson's business story is not so much a reflection of auto industry megatrends as it is a tale of entrepreneurial determination.

The Brooklyn native retired from professional basketball at 35 and began considering new business pursuits. He started a construction company with a couple of buddies, but it folded after one project. He then joined with former Detroit Pistons teammate, center Bill Laimbeer, in a venture that made packaging supplies for automakers in Detroit's empowerment zone, an area where federal tax breaks promote development.

That venture was struggling to stay afloat when Johnson read a newspaper article in which Harold Kutner, General Motors' vice president of global purchasing in the 1990s, vowed to support companies willing to open in Detroit with jobs.

Johnson picked up the phone and called GM.

"I'm only doing $50,000 worth of business with General Motors, and this guy is top dog, but he took my call," Johnson recalled of the GM executive. "Within two months, he was at my plant.

"I told him my story," Johnson said, "and he said, 'Get out of packaging. Get into auto and I'll support you with some opportunities.'

"Two months later, we had business from GM."

Johnson said the resulting business struggled as it learned the ropes in the auto industry. Quality was paramount. Schedules were airtight. But recognizing that the startup supplier had potential, GM called in a consultant to help — Bill Diehl, COO and later CEO of the suburban Detroit consulting firm BBK.

"Bill was assigned to turn me around financially and operationally," Johnson said.

But Diehl, whose firm was acquired in 2014 by the global consulting giant KPMG where he is now a managing director, said none of it would have happened without the spark and personal power of the man once called the Microwave.

"Vinnie was given a chance because Harold Kutner saw something in him that he liked," Diehl said. "Although he had not honed his business skills yet, it was clear that he possessed that entrepreneurial gene. His goal from day one was to become a great supplier which — oh, by the way — is also a minority supplier."

Hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue later, with customers that include the Detroit 3, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and ZF, Johnson's enterprise has expanded. In addition to the freshly acquired Irvin, Piston Group owns Piston Automotive; Detroit Thermal Systems, a joint venture assembler of vehicle heating and air conditioning modules in partnership with the French Tier 1 supplier Valeo; and a nonautomotive business, AIREA Inc., an office design studio and furniture dealer. Johnson owns 100 percent of the group companies and 51 percent of Detroit Thermal Systems.

He expects the group's revenue to grow significantly next year, based on booked business. Irvin itself could grow as a result of being acquired by Piston Group and becoming part of a minority business enterprise. North American automakers strive to buy from certified minority companies.

Johnson has moved to strengthen his management bench at the enlarged company, establishing a Piston Group executive board for consultation, and in July naming as his CFO industry veteran Amit Singhi.

Singhi began his career as a research engineer with GM in 1989. Five years later, he joined Ford where he progressed through a series of senior finance positions in North America. He was appointed CFO for Ford South America in 2012.

"Amit was the missing piece for this company to go to the next level," Johnson said. "As we continue to grow, we need a person like Amit to help us manage all the entities and make sure we make the right decisions.

"I've watched other ex-athletes get into business and looked at why they failed or succeeded," he said. "One of the main things I do is hire the best talent I can possibly hire and stay out of their way."

But Johnson has been the key to Piston Group's success so far. How he navigates financial issues in the coming years will be critical, especially as a minority business enterprise. Public offerings are traditionally not an option for certified minority enterprises that need capital, because they must be at least 51 percent minority-owned, and public trading dilutes the ownership.

"Our balance sheet is strong enough where we don't think it's necessary for us," Johnson said of a public offering.

"Piston Group is a great supplier that just happens to be a minority supplier," Johnson said. "We didn't get to this point with handouts. We earned it. Once you get an opportunity, it's up to you to show that you can deliver on everything you say. You have to go out and develop a reputation, and all of a sudden people are calling you."