Jul. 24—TIPTON — Steel Parts Manufacturing Inc. is set to permanently close next year, bringing an end to the more than 60-year-old company, according to officials with the United Steel Workers union.

Markeya McDaniel, who represents the USW members at the plant, said Friday the company is laying off all 107 of its workers and plans to shutter its facility no later than March.

She said the company's main customer, Ford Motor Company, had stopped placing orders, leading to the closure.

The facility is located at 801 Berryman Pike and specializes in metal stampings for the automotive, powertrain and motion technology industries.

In March, the company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the state, saying it was "engaging in a mass layoff due to unfavorable business circumstances beyond our control."

The company said 107 hourly and salaried employees would be terminated during the first two weeks of August.

On July 15, the company filed an updated notice saying the layoffs were being pushed back to the first two weeks of September due to Ford needing additional parts as it transitions to other suppliers.

A company official listed as the contact person on the WARN notice declined to comment on the layoffs when called on Friday.

This isn't the first time Steel Parts Manufacturing has filed a notice with the state. In 2012, it said it was permanently closing and laying off the 173 employees who worked there at the time, but that never happened.

McDaniel said employees who lived through that notice felt lucky to still have jobs, but that luck likely won't carry over during next year's closure.

"They were hoping to dodge this again, but that didn't happen," she said. "Some guys have been there for decades, so they're pretty upset."

According to the most recent WARN notice, there won't be any bumping rights for non-represented employees, and bumping rights of the union-represented workers will be as governed by the terms and conditions of its collective bargaining agreement.

Carson Gerber can be reached at 765-854-6739, carson.gerber@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter @carsongerber1.