You’ve probably never heard of Shiroki North America Inc, but if you’ve ever rolled down a car window or adjusted your seat in a Toyota or a Nissan, you’ve used their gear. They’re basically the invisible backbone of the automotive interior world. Honestly, it’s one of those companies that stays quiet while making millions of parts that keep your daily commute from being a total disaster.
Founded back in 1988, this company didn't just pop up overnight. They started as SW Manufacturing before rebranding in 2007. Based in Smithville, Tennessee, they’ve spent decades perfecting the stuff you take for granted: seat tracks, window regulators, and those door sashes that keep the wind from whistling through your car at 70 mph.
But things changed recently.
If you're looking for the old "Shiroki" as a standalone entity, you're kinda looking for a ghost. In 2023, the parent company officially shifted into Aisin Shiroki Corporation. This wasn't just a name change for the sake of new business cards; it was a massive consolidation move under the Aisin Group—a global Tier 1 giant that Toyota happens to own a big chunk of.
The Aisin Merger and Why It Actually Matters
People get confused here. They think Shiroki just vanished.
In reality, Shiroki North America Inc is now a core part of the Aisin Group’s massive footprint in the States. By July 2022, they were fully integrated into Aisin’s Product Development Center. This was a tactical play to group all the "body" components—think power sliding doors and seat mechanisms—under one roof.
The Smithville plant is still the heart of the operation. It’s a huge facility, often cited as one of the best places to work in DeKalb County. They employ hundreds of people locally, many of whom are graduates from Tennessee Tech. It’s a weirdly local feel for a company that’s part of a multi-billion dollar Japanese conglomerate.
Where they actually operate
- Smithville, TN: The main hub on West Broad Street.
- Gordonsville, TN: Known as Shiroki-GT.
- Dalton, GA: Handling the Shiroki-GA operations.
You won't find a Shiroki plant in every state. They stay close to the big "motherships"—the Toyota and Nissan assembly plants. It’s all about just-in-time delivery. If a plant in Kentucky needs 500 seat adjusters by Tuesday, Shiroki’s Tennessee teams have to be ready to move.
What Shiroki North America Inc Actually Makes
It’s not just "car parts." That’s too vague.
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They specialize in functional interior components. This means the moving bits. If it slides, clicks, or rolls inside your door or under your seat, there's a high chance it came from a Shiroki line.
One of their biggest flexes is their in-house engineering. Unlike a lot of manufacturers that buy machines from someone else, Shiroki actually builds a lot of their own production jigs and automation tools. They use SolidWorks for the design side and have this long-standing partnership with Misumi USA to get the exact components they need for their custom builds. It’s a very "do it yourself" approach to industrial manufacturing.
The Product Hit List:
- Seat Recliners and Adjusters: The gears that let you lean back or move the seat forward.
- Window Regulators: The motor and track system that moves your glass up and down.
- Door Frames and Sashes: The structural metal around your window.
- Moldings: Those trim pieces that make the car look finished rather than like a scrap heap.
The Big Shift: Moving Away from Seats?
Here is a detail most people miss.
While Shiroki is famous for seats, the Aisin Group has been shuffling the deck. Around 2022 and 2023, a lot of the seat frame business started moving over to Toyota Boshoku.
Why? Because the industry is moving toward "systems." Aisin wants to focus on high-tech stuff like power sliding doors and automated entry systems—the "body" side of things. Meanwhile, Toyota Boshoku is becoming the "home" for everything interior. If you're following the money, Shiroki's role is evolving from just making metal tracks to being part of a larger, smarter vehicle body system.
It’s a bit like a sports team trading players to specialize in a specific defense. Shiroki is the veteran player being moved to a specialized role to win the championship in the EV era.
Why Employees Stay (and Why Some Leave)
If you look at the data, the average stay at Shiroki North America Inc is about five years. In the manufacturing world, that's actually pretty decent.
The pay is competitive for middle Tennessee, averaging around $43,000 a year for floor roles, though obviously, engineers make way more. It’s a tough environment—it’s manufacturing, after all—but they have a reputation for stability. You aren't going to see the "here today, gone tomorrow" layoffs that plague some of the smaller startups.
However, it isn't perfect. Honestly, the biggest gripe from former employees is the "ceiling." Because it’s a subsidiary of a massive Japanese firm, the top-level moves are often decided in Japan or at the Aisin HQ in Michigan. Career advancement can feel slow if you’re looking to climb into the executive suite.
The Future: 2026 and Beyond
As of early 2026, Shiroki North America is doubling down on automation.
The push for Electric Vehicles (EVs) has changed the game. EVs need to be lighter to save battery life. Every ounce of steel in a seat track or a window regulator matters. Shiroki is now tasked with making these parts thinner, stronger, and lighter.
They’re still shipping huge volumes. Recent import records show a constant stream of components coming into the Port of Los Angeles and moving by rail to Memphis, then trucked over to Smithville. They aren't slowing down. If anything, the integration into Aisin has given them more R&D muscle to survive the transition to electric.
Actionable Insights for You
If you're a job seeker in Tennessee or Georgia:
- Target the Smithville HQ if you have a background in mechanical engineering or SolidWorks design.
- Look for "Aisin" postings, as the Shiroki brand is being folded into the larger corporate umbrella for hiring.
If you're a supply chain professional:
- Note their shift toward in-house machine building. They are less of a "buyer" of turnkey solutions and more of a "builder" that buys components.
- Their logistics hub is Memphis. If you’re looking to partner on freight, that’s where the bottleneck usually lives.
If you're an investor or industry watcher:
- Stop looking for "Shiroki" on the stock exchange. They are part of Aisin Corporation (TYO: 7259).
- Watch the "Body" segment of Aisin’s quarterly reports to see how the former Shiroki plants are performing.
Shiroki North America Inc is a prime example of a "stealth" company. They don't need a flashy logo on your dashboard to be essential. They just need your window to go up when it rains. And so far, they’ve been making that happen for nearly 40 years.