Articles: Industry News

A January resolution of the AFS Board of Directors has renamed the AFS library the Peters-Robison AFS Metalcasting Library in gratitude to the legacy of the late R.D. (Butch) Peters and the late Stephen T. Robison.

The original Cast Metals Institute (CMI) Library was named for Peters, who was president of Brillion Iron Works from 1933-1973. He was recognized for his longstanding dedication to metalcasting education and for contributions made by the R.D. and Linda Peters Foundation to CMI in the 1980s.

AFS Corporate Member Grede Holdings LLC (Southfield, MI) announced a sharpened focus on e-mobility to leverage electric vehicle opportunities for the light vehicle, commercial vehicle, and industrial markets. Developing and quoting millions of dollars in cast iron solutions for the electrification market, the company said its increasing commitment aligns with a growing e-mobility market they expect will rapidly accelerate from 2025 to 2030.

AFS Corporate Member Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry (WAF, Manitowoc, Wisconsin) has acquired the assets of castings manufacturer DEE, Inc. in Crookston, Minnesota. The acquisition will expand WAF’s current operations while creating new opportunities with the increased capacity. 

The Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRS) unveiled its new state-of-the-art metal processing lab at University of California–Irvine on March 3. Researchers, professors, and leading metallurgists from around the country gathered for the grand opening event. 

Cushman Foundry, Blue Ash, Ohio, was acquired in January by AFS Corporate Member CaneKast. Cushman Foundry’s history stretches back over 30 years as an independent producer of high-quality aluminum castings for many industries, including the fire suppression, industrial fan, and control markets. Before that, Cushman Foundry was a captive facility for one of the current company’s largest customers. 

AFS Corporate Member Farrar Corporation will be installing a new molding line this spring to increase capacity and improve efficiency at its ductile iron sand casting operation in Norwich, Kansas.

The Metal7 Inc. division of M7 Group, Sept-Îles, Quebec, has announced its acquisition of the assets of the Cast Corporation foundry (Hibbing, Minnesota), which specializes in the design and manufacture of high-performance castings for furnaces, as well as special alloy castings mainly for iron ore pelletizing plants. The newly formed entity is CAST7 LLC.

The sibling owners of Tonkawa Foundry, Inc., (TFI) Tonkawa, Oklahoma, have sold their family business to Mauricio and Alhena Torres, who assumed ownership January 1. The couple has relocated from Dallas with their four-year-old daughter, Paloma.

Having operated the foundry for over 40 years, Sandy Salisbury Linton and Jim Salisbury said they’re pleased the company will remain a family-owned business. 

In the last two months of 2021, AFS Corporate Member Charlotte Pipe and Foundry Co. acquired two local properties for a combined $13.85 million, according to a report from the Charlotte Business Journal. 

Novelis, based in Atlanta, will move into Phase 2 expansion of its recently-opened operation in Todd County, Kentucky. The aluminum producer and recycler is investing about $365 million to construct a new recycling center that will create 140 jobs for local residents, according to reporting by ABC 36, WTVQ.