Grede

What Grede does

Grede is a privately held American manufacturer of highly engineered ductile, gray, and specialty iron castings, serving the automotive, commercial truck, and industrial markets continuously since its 1920 founding by William J. Grede. Headquartered in Southfield, Michigan (legal entity Grede Holdings LLC), the company operates seven foundries and machining facilities across North America with approximately 3,000 team members and supplies safety-critical components—including chassis, suspension, drivetrain, engine, and large axle housing parts—to a roster of enterprise OEMs that includes Ford, General Motors, Caterpillar, American Axle & Manufacturing, Honda, Paccar, Daimler, Navistar, Cummins, John Deere, AGCO, Continental, and Advics. All major sites carry IATF 16949:2016 automotive quality certification.

Grede's underlying production capability combines conventional iron casting with a digital manufacturing layer and an additive manufacturing buildout. The company has deployed Norican Group's Monitizer Industry 4.0 IoT platform across major foundry processes, with a publicly stated objective of 100% traceability and AI-driven problem solving. It also operates four ExOne S-Max 3D sand printers across its Iron Mountain, Michigan and Biscoe, North Carolina facilities—producing 40% of Iron Mountain's casting tonnage additively—and uses the technology to enable complex geometries, reduce material waste, shorten lead times, and support lightweighting for electric-vehicle programs. Around its casting core, Grede integrates design and engineering services, precision machining and finishing, subassembly, supply chain management, and quality and program management functions.

The business model is enterprise B2B OEM-direct, sales-led and consultative: dedicated sales contacts for each market vertical (Automotive, Commercial Truck, Industrial) drive lead capture through a 'Request a Quote' funnel, with engineering collaboration from initial concept through production. Pricing is custom-quoted per specification and volume rather than published. Growth has combined organic capability investment (3D printing expansion, Monitizer rollout, ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year 2024) with inorganic moves—a 2021 acquisition of Neenah Enterprises' Advanced Cast Products business added approximately 250 employees and was framed as a step toward the company's stated $1 billion+ enterprise goal, while a November 2025 divestiture of the Browntown and Iron Mountain foundry assets to TRM Equity II and a complete C-suite overhaul in October–November 2025 (new CEO Reid Southby, CFO Phillip Reise, COO Anil Bilimoria, CCO Bob O'Neil) signal an active portfolio and leadership reset.

Name

Grede

Legal name

Grede Holdings LLC

Website

https://grede.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1920

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Grede is a private American manufacturer of ductile, gray, and specialty iron castings serving automotive, commercial truck, and industrial OEMs across seven North American facilities with approximately 3,000 team members.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Southfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Iron Castings Manufacturing: Grede manufactures and sells highly engineered ductile, gray, and specialty iron castings for automotive, commercial truck, and industrial applications. Products include chassis, suspension, drivetrain components, engine components, and large axle housings.
2. Precision Machining and Finishing Services: Grede offers complete precision machining and finishing services, as well as assembly services to turn diverse components into complete systems. State-of-the-art machining centers provide high-volume capabilities for finishing operations.
3. Design and Engineering Services: Grede provides design, engineering, testing, and validation services for metal forming and casting technologies. Services include initial design concept, design optimization, material optimization, and design for manufacturing.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Grede manufactures highly engineered ductile, gray, and specialty iron castings for automotive, commercial truck, and industrial OEMs. The company complements its castings with precision machining, finishing, assembly, design engineering, supply chain management, and Industry 4.0-enabled smart foundry services across seven North American facilities.

Product overview

Grede is a producer of cast and machined iron components offering a comprehensive portfolio of products and services for the automotive, commercial truck, and industrial markets. The core offering consists of ductile, gray, and specialty iron castings, supported by complementary services including Design Services (initial design concept, design optimization, material optimization, advanced manufacturing techniques, design for manufacturing), Precision Machining and Finishing Services, Supply Chain Management, and Smart Foundry/Industry 4.0 capabilities including 3D Sand Printing. The company operates 7 facilities across North America and employs approximately 3,000 team members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Grede Gear: Merchandise brand for Grede

Products and services

• Ductile, Gray, and Specialty Iron Castings

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% of Iron Mountain casting tonnage produced by 3D printing machines
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Norican GroupcoreTechnology or IntegrationGrede partnered with Norican Group to implement Monitizer, an Industry 4.0 solution, across all major processes at multiple foundries in the United States. Monitizer helps reduce costs, defects, and downtime while improving overall operational efficiency toward 100% traceability.
• ENERGY STARcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrede is a dedicated ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year (2024) with a comprehensive energy conservation program. The partnership provides access to valuable resources, tools, and benchmarking resources to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
• ExOnecoreTechnology or IntegrationGrede uses ExOne S-Max 3D sand printers for additive manufacturing of sand cores. Grede Iron Mountain was one of the first foundries to incorporate 3D printing as a production option using ExOne technology.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Benton Foundry: Benton Foundry is a US-based iron foundry producing gray, ductile, and alloyed iron castings for industrial machinery, heavy equipment, and power generation customers. Directly comparable in process and product mix to Grede.
• Waupaca Foundry: Waupaca Foundry is one of the largest iron foundries in North America, producing ductile and gray iron castings for the automotive, commercial vehicle, and industrial markets - the same end-markets Grede serves. The two firms are the most direct competitors in US iron castings for transportation and heavy equipment.
• Citation Companies: Citation Companies operates iron foundries (including Columbus Castings) producing gray and ductile iron castings for rail, industrial, and heavy-equipment customers. Closely comparable to Grede in process, customer type, and product line.
• Shiloh Industries: Shiloh Industries produces engineered castings (iron, aluminum, magnesium) and light weighting solutions for automotive applications. Direct overlap with Grede in chassis, suspension, and drivetrain castings for OEMs like Ford and GM.
• MAT Foundry: MAT Foundry is a US iron foundry producing ductile iron and gray iron castings for industrial and transportation customers. Directly comparable to Grede in process technology, customer mix, and component types.
• IronCast: IronCast is a US iron foundry producing engineered ductile and gray iron castings for industrial, heavy truck, and agricultural equipment applications - a tight peer set to Grede's industrial segment.
• Willman Industries: Willman Industries is a Wisconsin-based iron and steel foundry producing castings for heavy industrial and transportation customers. Direct regional peer to Grede with overlapping customer roster and casting capabilities.
• Dotson Iron Castings: Dotson Iron Castings produces ductile and gray iron castings for heavy truck, agricultural, and industrial machinery applications. Direct US iron foundry competitor serving overlapping end-markets with Grede.

Broad incumbents

• Tupy: Tupy is a Brazilian-headquartered global leader in ductile and compacted graphite iron castings for automotive and industrial applications. Competes with Grede globally on iron castings and is a meaningful reference point for US automotive OEMs seeking diversified iron-casting supply.
• Precision Castparts (Berkshire Hathaway): Precision Castparts is a Berkshire Hathaway-owned diversified manufacturer of large, complex metal castings (including iron) for aerospace, power, and industrial markets. Serves as a broader incumbent reference point for Grede's heavier industrial casting opportunities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Gredecasting
• Facebookfacebook.com/GredeCasting
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grede
• Instagraminstagram.com/gredecasting

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Grede