Manufacturing Technology Mutual Insurance Company: Workers’ Compensation and Safety

This article appeared in the October 2025 issue of MiMfg Magazine. Read the full issue and find past issues online.

Profile Films of Grand Rapids, which produces plastic bags and film used in manufacturing streams, did not have many serious injuries in the workplace.

What they did have is quite a few lower-level injuries that were turning into long-term workers’ compensation cases, and that led to increased organizational demands on Human Resources and other administrators.

However, Joyce Rachon, Director of Finance/HR, said they have seen a marked improvement since they signed up with MMA partner and workers’ comp provider Manufacturing Technology Mutual Insurance Company (MTM) about a year ago.

“The support has just been phenomenal,” she says. “Our premium costs have dropped dramatically, and the pressure on my HR team has lessened significantly.”

Rachon says their costs have dropped 27 percent, which does not even factor additional time savings.

“We were constantly having to follow up and track these cases ourselves, and they were dragging out,” she says. “Now that we have people assigned to handle our cases, we are no longer the ones who have to follow up.”

Another resource that they have now is alternative work assistance. Some kinds of injuries, Rachon explains, might only impact employees’ ability to work at Profile Films but MTM can help place them in suitable jobs at other businesses while they are recovering, lessening workers’ compensation costs.

Novi-based MTM, the only insurance company that has a formal alliance with the Michigan Occupational Safety Health Administration (MIOSHA) to maximize worker safety, has been supporting MMA members since 2018 with these and many other solutions, including:

• Consultation, education and training in partnership with MIOSHA
• Claims management, face-to-face claims reviews and underwriting
• Loss control services through their MIOSHA-certified team
• Workplace safety audits and access to over 730 training videos
• 24/7 online claims filing with automated claims alerts

MTM President Megan Brown notes that businesses can receive enhanced workplace safety analyses and recommendations as a result of their MIOSHA alliance. By being proactive in recognizing and remediating issues before they turn into problems, businesses can eliminate the potential for fines from MIOSHA.

Brown also highlights one of MTM’s newest solutions: a partnership with Paradigm. Through this cost-saving nurse triage/tele-medicine program, employees who are injured at work can call a toll-free number for recommendations on first-aid care, self-treatment and next steps. A panel is set up for each member as needed, Brown adds, allowing businesses to follow their injury treatment protocol such as drug and alcohol testing.

MMA members can receive these and other solutions at a discount of 3 percent, averaging $1,150 per policy. Policyholders are also included in a dividend program, with the average amount returned to each member being $7,600, or 33 percent of the premium.

“Not only have our costs been reduced and our workload lessened, but we get these rebate checks on top of that,” Rachon says. “We haven’t even taken advantage of all the solutions that are available yet, such as ongoing education and opportunities to save in other areas of the business.”

See Member Benefits and take advantage of this valuable MMA member benefit or contact MMA’s Brenda Nalett at 517-487-8512 or nalett@mimfg.org.