Articles: Industry News

AFS Corporate Member Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Co., a manufacturer of cast iron and plastic pipe and fittings, announced the purchase of 80 acres of land in Maize, Kansas, a suburb of Wichita, to build a new $80 million manufacturing facility.

The expansion, which received local, county and state government support, is expected to create 50 new, full-time positions in Maize. Construction on the Maize facility, the company’s seventh plastics plant in the U.S., is expected to begin in January 2024 with completion anticipated in early 2025.

MxD has launched the Curriculum and Pathways Integrating Technology and Learning (CAPITAL) skills development program. The CAPITAL program, supported by $6.2 million in federal funding, is designed to address the anticipated shortage of two million manufacturing workers and provide resources directly aimed at meeting current and emerging workforce needs.

The 5th annual Cast in Steel competition put on by the Steel Founders Society of America (SFSA) brought the wow factor this year, attracting 34 teams from 31 universities to give their best shot at creating an African spear point. This year’s grand prize winner, announced April 25 following performance testing the day before, was the Steel Broncos team from California Polytechnic University-Pomona including Alexander Ann, Elise Boyd, Anthony Landaverde, William Manzon, and Nikole Sauter.  

LIFT, the Detroit-based Department of Defense manufacturing innovation institute, has signed a new cooperative agreement with the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology (ManTech) Program to continue to operate the public-private partnership and national manufacturing innovation institute (MII) for the next five years.

MacLean Power Systems, (MPS) a manufacturer of products for transmission, distribution, substation, and communications infrastructure, has completed the purchase of AFS Corporate Member Dotson Iron Castings, a ductile iron foundry located in Mankato, Minnesota.

The 5th annual Cast in Steel competition put on by the Steel Founders Society of America (SFSA) brought the wow factor this year, attracting 34 teams from 31 universities to give their best shot at creating an African spear point. This year’s grand prize winner, announced April 25 following performance testing the day before, was the Steel Broncos team from California Polytechnic University-Pomona including Alexander Ann, Elise Boyd, Anthony Landaverde, William Manzon, and Nikole Sauter.  

McWane Poles, part of AFS Corporate Member McWane Inc.’s family of companies, has opened its newest ductile iron utility poles facility in Provo, Utah. The $18.5 million investment complements McWane’s existing presence in the area and marks the second facility dedicated to poles.

Reshoring and foreign direct investment (FDI) job announcements in 2022 were at the highest rate ever recorded, according to the Reshoring Initiative’s 2022 Data Report. The report said fourth-quarter announcements accelerated even more than anticipated due to the Chips and Infrastructure legislation and deglobalization trends. 

On March 30, Victaulic, a manufacturer of mechanical pipe joining, fire protection and flow control solutions, acquired Horizon Metals Inc., located in Nephi, Utah. Victaulic stated the addition of the 1.4-million sq.-ft. foundry increases its capacity for large-diameter piping solutions and is aligned with the strategy to manufacture these products in the U.S.

Modern Casting and Casting Source received two writing awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) at the Upper Midwest Region awards banquet in Chicago on April 13. Called the “AZBEES,” the awards recognize excellence in journalistic reporting for business-to-business and trade publications.