For more than 40 years, Magnetic Products, Inc. has offered engineered metal control solutions to the food and bulk material processing, and metal forming industries.
Based in Metro-Detroit Michigan, MPI designs, manufactures and services magnets, material handling and electronic inspection systems. MPI products are designed to be complete metal and foreign contamination control, and material handling solutions. MPI leads the industry by continuously engineering inventive magnetic equipment and advancing customer education.
Founded in 1981, MPI was formed to advance the development of permanent magnet technology used in the industry. Along with the company’s initial mission to engender research and development, the founders also focused on customer education, which would allow users to better select and maintain purchased equipment. These cornerstones still guide the company and its management team.
History & Impact
Magnetic Products, Inc exists to support industrial processors in their effort to create high quality and safe products in a work environment that protects their people, products, and profitability.
Core Values
Excellence in the Ordinary
Every job matters and is important to the overall success. Doing ordinary things extraordinary well.
Culture Warrior
We are driven by a relentless commitment that all employees achieve their definition of success. We challenge the Status Quo - fear of change does not get a vote.
No Red Tape
Doing the right thing without delay. While respecting our process, MPI strives to be an easy company to do business with.
PhD in Customer Education
An educated customer is an MPI customer. BE READY to educate your customer at any time. LISTEN allow the customer to establish his/her knowledge. EMPOWER the customer with knowledge.
Shared Loyalty
The team does not succeed unless everyone succeeds. We graciously give and receive help when needed.
Leadership Team
Keith Rhodes
Founder
MPI founder and President Keith Rhodes began his career in magnets as a teenager — first as a production employee building magnets before moving into sales where he began designing magnetic solutions for customers. As he gained more experience Keith had a vision of materially changing the way magnetic equipment was designed and used in industry.
Challenging the status-quo and frustrated with traditional “that’s the way we’ve always done it” thinking, Keith decided to go out on his own and in 1981 founded Magnetic Products, Inc.
Keith is passionate about having his customers equally understand the importance of the capabilities and limitations of magnets. With this knowledge, they could achieve realistic and reliable performance results.
Early in MPI’s life as a company, Keith developed a simple presentation titled “A Magnet Is Not Just A Magnet” to explain the laws of physics and how they impact the fundamental principles of magnet design. His strong belief was that an educated customer would always be an MPI customer because they would understand the design, engineering and quality put into every MPI product.
From the beginning, Keith envisioned a company that rewarded the entrepreneurial spirit of its employees. He put in place a committee to nurture and foster company culture growth and presence within the employee population.
Throughout the company’s lifespan, Keith has made sure that MPI management is dedicated to always giving back and taking care of their employees — they are the company’s greatest asset. Keith prides himself on the dynamic and talented team that is MPI today. With every employee’s combined efforts, MPI has experienced continual growth and prosperity as an industry leader for over 40 years.
Kyle Rhodes
President
Kyle Rhodes is President at MPI. Kyle joined MPI in 2009 and has held positions is manufacturing, purchasing, sales and marketing. He has spent the majority of his career in the metal control industry, removing, sorting, and moving metal across many industrial manufacturing sectors. He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and MBA from Michigan State University.
As a road warrior, he has the unique opportunity of visiting and learning about many of our customer’s manufacturing processes because of the diverse range of applications that MPI products support. Kyle is passionate about learning his customer’s processes and the unique challenges and opportunities they face. Understanding how products are manufactured and make it to the end user consumer markets is a passion of his. He has had the honor to serve a wide range of manufacturers from some of the largest manufacturing companies in the world to local, family owned startup businesses.
Kyle actively participates and supports organizations including PEMA, NARA, PMA, IAOM and Vistage. He currently serves as a Board Member for the Process Equipment Manufacturers Association (PEMA) and on the Marketing Committee. He is also a Board Member for his fraternity’s chapter at Michigan State University. He continues his journey of personal growth through active membership in Vistage.
Kyle has a passion to serve, focusing on his family, his team and his customers.
Ronald Kwasniewicz
Research & Development
Ron “Kwas” has been with MPI for over 27 years.
Hiring in as MPI’s Plant Manager, his innovative thinking and problem solving quickly made him a trusted authority in new product design and development. Ron was promoted to Engineering Manager and held that position for 16 years before moving solely into research and development.
Ron has an Electrical Engineering Technology degree from the National Institute of Technology and seven patents in his portfolio. His over 37 years of experience in all areas relating to mechanics, electrical, machining, fabricating, and welding has made him a crucial asset in MPI’s ability in maintaining its reputation for innovation.
Kevin Poole
Engineering
With over two decades of experience in the automotive, transportation, and industrial fabrication sectors, Kevin brings deep expertise in engineered subsystems, mechatronics, and quality management systems. A results-driven leader, he combines technical depth with a collaborative, team-focused approach to deliver high-performance, customer-centric solutions.
Prior to joining MPI, Kevin served as Regional Operations R&D Director at Valeo leading the development of advanced thermal technologies for global markets, focusing on innovation, efficiency, and profitability. Prior to this, he was Director of Engineering at DAVCO Technology, where he spearheaded the design and testing of fluid processing systems for heavy-duty, marine, and stationary applications.
Earlier in his career, Kevin spent over 13 years at the Schaeffler Group, rising from Product Development Engineer to Product Group Engineering Manager. There, he managed a high-demand phasing systems portfolio across North American and EMEA markets, delivering solutions to some of the industry's most exacting customers.
He holds both a BSME and MSME from Lawrence Technological University and has extensive experience implementing and managing quality systems, including ISO 9001 and IATF 16949.
Outside of work, Kevin enjoys travel and both recreational and competitive motorsports.
Kris Tennyson
Sales & Marketing
Kris comes to MPI with over 25 years of Sales Leadership experience over multiple industries. Most recently he made his mark in the industrial laser industry. Kris believes that great sales representatives are “honest, straight forward, and want to truly help their customers”. In short, they genuinely care. There’s a difference between being a partner with an organization, and just “selling them something”. What you can expect from his sales team – we treat our customers exceptionally well, make it easy for them to do business with us, and continuously educate and support our customers, even for products they didn’t buy from MPI.
Kris’ passion is building and growing teams that perform at the highest levels, in a sustainable way, that earn the ultimate trust of their customers and co-workers. Personally, Kris enjoys traveling, the art of cooking with the smoker, and many of the outdoor activities that Michigan has to offer.
Matthew Wiggins
Operations
Matt joined the MPI Team in 2013.
With over 15 years of experience in manufacturing development and management, resource planning, quality control, and workforce management, Matt has quickly proven to be one of MPI’s most crucial assets in day-to-day operations.
Matt leads all MPI production personnel and product manufacturing. He is passionate about being hands-on in improving all areas of MPI’s manufacturing processes. Matt’s priority is to run an efficient manufacturing plant with quality, safety, and on-time delivery. His goal is to ensure MPI customers have the best overall experience and that MPI employees are achieving the best results possible. In addition to his role on the executive leadership team, Matt is also a part of the company’s safety committee — a group dedicated to employee safety and well-being while on the property.
Prior to starting his career, Matt earned his bachelor’s degree in business from Eastern Michigan University.