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.
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.
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.
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.
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 $3.7 million investment also includes replacing the General Kinematics Vibradrum with a GK media drum. The new molding line is the FBO-IIIS 20 x 24 from Robert Sinto Corporation and will provide the foundry a faster mold cycle, deeper draw, and reduced maintenance costs. The investment is part of a phased approach to make more castings with tighter quality and process controls.
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.
AFS Corporate Member Norican Group, home to DISA, ItalPresseGauss, StrikoWestofen and Wheelabrator, has signed its commitment letter to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). By signing up to emissions reduction and net zero journeys under the initiative, the company has committed to setting ambitious global targets for the emission of greenhouse gases.
AFS Corporate Member REFCOTEC, Inc. (Orrville, Ohio) has purchased the assets of EXOCHEM Corp, a supplier of riser sleeves and other consumable products to the foundry and steel industries since 1968. The ISO-certified company operates production facilities in Lorain, Ohio, and in East Palestine, Ohio. The acquisition follows REFCOTEC’s strategic goal of continuing to diversify within the foundry segment with a focus on high quality, efficient manufacturing.
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.
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.