Our family has been involved in plastics for four generations. When Stephen Hansel arrived from Germany in 1930, he started working as one of the first tool and die mold makers in Chicago. After completing his apprenticeship, he founded a thermoset molding company, Precision Mold. Several of his customers were impressed with the quality of his plastic molds and asked if he could also manufacture their plastic parts. To meet that need, he started a company called Trans-matic in the mid 1940s.

Over the years Stephen’s daughter, Helen, became more involved with both businesses. When Stephen passed away in 1963, Helen and her husband took over both companies and which they continued to run until 1982.

Their son, Martin, joined the family business and completed his tool and die mold apprenticeship in 1970. Seeing new opportunities for the plastic industry, Martin and his best friend Dan founded an injection molding company called Aztec Plastic in 1970. From the beginning they focused on the techniques, methods, and materials that other companies were hesitant to try. They built a reputation for working with high precision, highly engineered plastics and resins and for taking a customer’s idea or vision and making it a reality. They also worked with customers to teach them about plastics and break the “metal only” mindset.

Martin Wielgus, Cofounder of Aztec Plastic described their rationale for choosing the name, Aztec Plastic. “When Dan and I got together to start the company, we were trying to think of a really good name. Martin had just got his pilot’s license and was looking through a magazine and saw a Piper Aircraft prototype called Aztec. We were just two young kids starting out, and our first thought was that we wanted to be so successful that we could afford one of those airplanes. I don’t think that prototype ever flew, but the name Aztec stuck, and the company really took off.”

By 2009, Dan was ready to retire and agreed to have Martin buy him out of the company. Martin wanted to bring the company forward, grow it, and achieve new quality certifications. To help accomplish these goals, Martin asked his wife, Suzanne, to join him at the company. She was a waitress and had never worked in the plastic industry before, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions for the company.

Suzanne jumped in and hit the ground running. She learned every aspect of the business, from managing the office to accounting and computers. During her first few years at the company, Aztec Plastic moved from a 5,000 ft2 to a 27,000 ft2, and she and Martin achieved two certifications for Aztec Plastic: ISO 9001 and AS9100. In Martin’s words, “Suzanne could run circles around everyone there.”

In 2017, Suzanne became the majority owner and President and CEO of the company, while Martin headed up Research and Development. Susanne focuses on managing the business, and Martin is engulfed with quality and new ideas for plastics manufacturing and fabrication.

Over the years, Aztec has expanded into the automotive and aerospace industries. They were one of the first companies to work with Torlon plastic and continue to operate at the cutting edge of new technologies. Martin and Suzanne always encouraged their children to build a career in any field they wanted, not necessarily plastic, but when Martin asked his son Andrew to join the business, he agreed enthusiastically.

With Martin as head of Research and Development, Susanne as President and CEO, and Andrew as Chief Operations Officer, Aztec Plastic has thrived. They now work in a wide variety of industries and handle multiple secondary services in addition to injection molding, including machining, grinding, 3D printing, and more. They have become a one stop shop for their customers.

Our diverse manufacturing capabilities help support our customers across a wide range of end user markets that encompass the healthcare and medical device, consumer products, automotive, aerospace and defense, appliances, and marine industries.

Our state-of-the-art facility has all the capabilities you need to develop your products:

• Plastic injection molding specialists
• Contract manufacturing and assembly services
• Wholescale comprehensive manufacturing solutions
• Consultative product and project solutions
• Value added and secondary manufacturing operations
• High tolerance component injection molding
• Engineered high performance materials and resins specialists
• Insert molding solutions
• Decorative and cosmetic molding
• Engineering and product management
• Lean manufacturing and best molding practices and techniques
• Cell manufacturing environment capabilities
• ISO 9001: 2015 Certified / AS 9100 Rev D. Certified

Aztec’s business philosophy is based on developing long term relationships and partnerships with our customers and suppliers. We recognize the importance and dedication of every individual at Aztec Plastic and believe that our team members are our very best and most important asset. They give us our greatest advantage for our business.

Responsiveness to our customers’ needs is what separates Aztec Plastic from other suppliers. We take great pride in our high performance culture, and every day we are determined to be the benchmark within our industry.

Aztec Plastic pledges our total commitment to respect the needs and concerns of our customers, employees, and suppliers. It is our mission to be the highest quality organization in our industry, and we strive toward continual improvement to be the best of the best.

1747 W. Carroll Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60612