AboutChallenge Manufacturing
In 1981, Challenge Manufacturing was founded in a garage in Walker, Michigan. Starting with one machine, Challenge Manufacturing has grown tremendously over the past four decades. Today, still headquartered in Walker, Michigan, Challenge employs approximately 3,000 team members supported by 1,000 industrial robots across ten locations in North America. Challenge Manufacturing prides itself on maintaining its values, culture and competitiveness as a company within its fast-moving industry.
What makes Challenge Manufacturing unique? Challenge is an employee-owned company. The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) allows our team members to share in the value earned by the company. The ESOP also enables the Company to maintain a collaborative and teamwork-oriented work culture. In 2017, Challenge was ranked as the 40th largest ESOP Company in the US. By working together, we can help build a stronger financial future for everyone.
Challenge’s Mission is to be the best global supplier of automotive structures and provide value to our dedicated employee-owners.
Challenge operates on three principles: People, Improvement & Customer.
People – The architect of all of our success
- Safety is our top priority
- Our people want a career, not a job
- We offer personal and professional development opportunities
- You can count on stable employment
- We are an employer-of-choice in the communities we work in
- We are employee owned
Improvement – Our commitment to continuous innovation & technology
- We optimize for efficient production rates
- We are on the leading edge of automation technology
- We cultivate a lean manufacturing culture
- We offer career training and growth through Challenge University
- Customer – The focus of our business and our future
- We strive for best in class quality, delivery, costs and responsiveness
