You don't know that for a fact.
Were they stupid for not monitoring and controlling Champ Labs? Yes I believe so. Amsoil trusted Fram quality, huge mistake.
First Brands
- Thread starter JohnnyJohnson
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Were they stupid for not monitoring and controlling Champ Labs? Yes I believe so. Amsoil trusted Fram quality, huge mistake.
Perhaps a consortium of primary companies that sourced their filters from Champion would be a logical purchaser, if Amsoil, Royal Purple and others controlled the means of construction then they could control specifications and quality. They would also be able to market filters under the Champion brand to other vendors like Advance, etc with private branding if needed with specifications tailored to specific price/performance needs.
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Hopkins makes brake controllers, trailer wiring accessories and lights mainly. They also previously made the Hopkins “Hoppy” headlight alignment tool which was industry standard for years and years. Pretty much an extinct tool now.
Hopkins also makes Rhino Ramps and funnels, too.
I own a relatively uncommon 50 year old car and common brake parts like pads, shoes, rotors wheel cylinders and rubber parts have all still been available from Raybestos and Centric. Stopped making master cylinders and calipers years ago. Even if someone picks up those companies, I can't see them continuing to manufacture some of these slow selling items. Just decided to buy a couple items from Rock Auto for my parts stash before they are gone.
I'm pretty sure that Kohler and Briggs have moved to a filter supplier in India already.
TIFFIN, Ohio — First Brands Group, LLC will permanently close its TMD Tiffin manufacturing plant, eliminating 407 jobs on April 30, 2026, according to a WARN Act notice filed Friday with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The facility, located at 1441 N. Maule Rd. in Tiffin, will shut down entirely on April 30, with all 407 employees losing their jobs. The company described the action as a permanent closure. The filing marks one of the largest recent job losses in Seneca County.
The facility, located at 1441 N. Maule Rd. in Tiffin, will shut down entirely on April 30, with all 407 employees losing their jobs. The company described the action as a permanent closure. The filing marks one of the largest recent job losses in Seneca County.
The bankruptcy of auto parts producer First Brands will result in the layoffs of more than 300 workers in Greenville, the company has told Ohio government.
First Brands Group, LLC notified the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it will close its FRAM Greenville plant at 851 Jackson St.
"As you may be aware, the company is currently experiencing a period of financial distress and is in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process,” the business said in a letter dated Feb. 27. “Nevertheless, the company has gone to great lengths to maintain its operations. This has included pursuing a sale process as well as attempting to seek additional funding from numerous outside parties.”
To no avail, however, the company added.
“The company has now made the difficult decision to close this facility,” First Brands said in its WARN (Worker Adjustment Retraining Notice) letter to the state. “The company expects that 302 total employees will be affected by this closure.”
The closure will begin on April 30, and it will be permanent, the business said.
More than a decade ago, FRAM Filtration committed to a $5.4 million, 20,000-square-foot expansion at its Greenville manufacturing facility, adding a fourth oil filter production line, bringing the plant’s annual capacity to more than 100 million oil filters.
The former chief executive of the Cleveland-based auto parts supplier that also produces Anco wiper blades, with his brother, are facing federal charges in New York, accused in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud, national reports have said.
“The criminal charges relate to alleged historical actions by certain former executives who are no longer with First Brands Group or involved in the management, governance, or day-to-day operations of the company,” First Brands said in a Jan. 29 statement. “While these matters concern past conduct, their impact is being felt now by thousands of people.”
The business also said: “This is a tragic situation that has disrupted the lives of employees, families, and communities who depend on this business. We recognize the very real human toll of these events and the uncertainty many are facing.”
Hundreds of other First Brands workers across Ohio are also facing imminent layoffs.
First Brands Group, LLC notified the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that it will close its FRAM Greenville plant at 851 Jackson St.
"As you may be aware, the company is currently experiencing a period of financial distress and is in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process,” the business said in a letter dated Feb. 27. “Nevertheless, the company has gone to great lengths to maintain its operations. This has included pursuing a sale process as well as attempting to seek additional funding from numerous outside parties.”
To no avail, however, the company added.
“The company has now made the difficult decision to close this facility,” First Brands said in its WARN (Worker Adjustment Retraining Notice) letter to the state. “The company expects that 302 total employees will be affected by this closure.”
The closure will begin on April 30, and it will be permanent, the business said.
More than a decade ago, FRAM Filtration committed to a $5.4 million, 20,000-square-foot expansion at its Greenville manufacturing facility, adding a fourth oil filter production line, bringing the plant’s annual capacity to more than 100 million oil filters.
The former chief executive of the Cleveland-based auto parts supplier that also produces Anco wiper blades, with his brother, are facing federal charges in New York, accused in an alleged multibillion-dollar fraud, national reports have said.
“The criminal charges relate to alleged historical actions by certain former executives who are no longer with First Brands Group or involved in the management, governance, or day-to-day operations of the company,” First Brands said in a Jan. 29 statement. “While these matters concern past conduct, their impact is being felt now by thousands of people.”
The business also said: “This is a tragic situation that has disrupted the lives of employees, families, and communities who depend on this business. We recognize the very real human toll of these events and the uncertainty many are facing.”
Hundreds of other First Brands workers across Ohio are also facing imminent layoffs.
Fat Lady done sung
I noticed Centric brake pads and rotors being on clearance on the Tire Rack today.
So far at work the most obvious First Brands casualties off the top of my head so far have been:
- Trico wipers - we replaced them with a private label brand from a different vendor.
- Hopkins towing accessories - the entire rack of trailer connectors and adapters and related stuff is basically empty.
- Hopkins fluid management - we recently got a bunch of Performance Tool funnels and Funnel King oil drain pans to replace the Hopkins ones that were nowhere to be found but still out of at least 3/4 of the funnels.
- Car wash accessories - brushes, etc - mostly empty shelf
And since most parts stores carry the same like 1-3 brands of things (even if private label) a single vendor going bye-bye is a big deal. Sure, plenty of factories can make funnels, but if the biggest supplier of funnels in the industry shuts their factory down, whoever is left has to ramp up production (if they even have the capacity to). Order additional materials, add shifts/employees to manage the production, packaging and quality control, shipping it out, sending it across the world on a ship, processing it at the port, getting it to the warehouse, processing it again, putting it on the truck, and sending it to the store... if they even have the capacity.
If you figured you were going to make 1,000,000 funnels this year, you had the input, equipment, staffing, and logistics to ship like 1,000,001 funnels this year. But now if all of a sudden you have every hardware store and auto parts store in the country asking for funnels and now you need to make 3x as many of them... well you won't have them done that day, that's for sure!
6 months of disruption. Likely. You forgot to add the part where as soon as people figure out they can't find a funnel they will buy 3 when they see them.
thanks for that update, I was thinking the other day of posting a question, asking you how it is at your store.. But you've already answered it! My biggest question and I bet you'll have to wait to answer it, is who in the heck is going to replace the BrakesBest brand of brake hardware that was centric/raybestos supplied! I really liked that stuff it wasn't that bad at all.
anyway thanks for the update!
You have Wagner and Power Stop for pads & rotors and Akebono for pads. And OEM.thanks for that update, I was thinking the other day of posting a question, asking you how it is at your store.. But you've already answered it! My biggest question and I bet you'll have to wait to answer it, is who in the heck is going to replace the BrakesBest brand of brake hardware that was centric/raybestos supplied! I really liked that stuff it wasn't that bad at all.
anyway thanks for the update!
And of course a ton of Chinese brands on Amazon and RockAuto "economy" you never heard of.
Reports suggested that 13% of First Brands’ sales were traceable to major automakers like Ford. This was sufficient for Ford to step in and help keep the company afloat. In fact, a subsequent report noted that Ford was actually the most exposed to First Brands, and stood to lose the most if First Brands went under for good. Four prospective buyers are making a play for what is left of First Brands, including a couple current Ford suppliers.
Ford was actually paying First Brands for parts in advance. One of Ford’s lawyers, Mark E. Freedlander, noted, “This may be the in the history of auto supply.” With First Brands representatives Patrick and Edward James currently facing nine counts that range from money laundering to wire fraud to “…running a continuing financial crimes enterprise…,” it is clear that Ford may be in some new supply chain trouble.
Ford was actually paying First Brands for parts in advance. One of Ford’s lawyers, Mark E. Freedlander, noted, “This may be the in the history of auto supply.” With First Brands representatives Patrick and Edward James currently facing nine counts that range from money laundering to wire fraud to “…running a continuing financial crimes enterprise…,” it is clear that Ford may be in some new supply chain trouble.
Thanks Donald, I was talking the caliper hardware at Oreilly. Their house brand of Brakes Best hardware was sourced from Carlson/Raybestos. Next time I'll probably use OEM but was commenting on asking @dogememe
Expect inflation this year on the type of items once sold under the First Brands umbrella.
If you were a company looking to expand production would you buy one of these factories at auction or build a factory in Mexico or offshore? Maybe buy one at auction if it were already highly automated. Not sure we know.
I've also wondered if the Hoppy tailgate torsion bars will disappear? I ordered an extra from Amazon just to have in-stock. These make a HUGE difference on older trucks with heavy tailgates/no OEM assist
