Industry News

The Nadcap program—which oversees critical process accreditations of suppliers in the aerospace industry—has published two new audit criteria, covering investment casting and sand casting.

With leadership from the Nadcap Metallic Materials Manufacturing (MMM) Task Group, the audit criteria were developed with experts from original equipment manufacturers and casting suppliers involved in the Nadcap program. Audits using the new criteria can now be scheduled.

AFS Corporate Member Great Lakes Castings (GLC), based in Ludington, Michigan, received $79,785 from the state’s Going PRO Talent Fund. GLC employs 225 people at its gray iron foundry.

Going PRO awarded 54 Northwest Michigan employers a total of $1,700,109 for employee training. 

General Motors Co. and Lithium Americas Corp. plan to jointly develop the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada, the largest known source of lithium in the U.S. and the third largest in the world. Under their agreement, GM will make a $650 million equity investment in Lithium Americas—the largest-ever investment by an automaker to produce battery raw materials. 

AFS Corporate Member Le Sueur Inc. (LSI), a supplier of complex and pressure-tight aluminum castings and plastic injection molding components based in Le Sueur, Minnesota, has been acquired by Delos Capital and The Silverfern Group.

Godfrey & Wing, which manufactures and supplies equipment, sealants, and services to seal porous materials, has expanded vacuum impregnation production capacity at its North American service centers. The focus of this growth is to help manufacturers ensure part performance and build their business profitability in 2023 and the future.

The international quartet of metal fairs GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST will take place June 12-16, but exhibitors can register online now for booth space, the events company Messe Düsseldorf announced.

AFS Corporate Member General Motors Co. plans to invest $918 million in four U.S. manufacturing sites for V-8 engine production and electric vehicle (EV) components, the company said on January 20, which includes $55 million for casting operations. The announcement brings GM’s U.S.

Dakota Foundry, an Anderson Industries Company located in Webster, South Dakota, has acquired the MAGMASOFT Autonomous Engineering tools to further advance its innovation and support production of complex, high-quality iron castings. 

General Motors plans to invest $45 million at its Bedford, Indiana, aluminum diecasting foundry to expand the facility’s production capacity of EV drive unit castings that will be used in the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV full-size pickups. GM reported in November that work at the facility would begin immediately.

Amsted Global Solutions (AGS), part of AFS Corporate Member Amsted Rail, announced an agreement October 27 by which it has become the exclusive distributor for all manganese steel wear products made by the Frog, Switch & Manufacturing Company (Frog Switch). Chicago-based AGS is a supplier of large, highly complex castings, springs, and components for industrial applications.