AFS Corporate Member General Kinematics broke ground in August on a 42,000-sq.ft. plant expansion at its Crystal Lake, Illinois, corporate headquarters. The manufacturing addition will be part of its existing 220,000-sq.-ft. space to facilitate increasing demand and more extensive equipment offerings for the mining, foundry, and recycling industries.
P&THE Manufacturing LLC, which purchased Ross Aluminum in April, is investing $5.4 million into the plant, reported WHIO TV 7. Ross is an aluminum foundry based in Sidney, Ohio.
“The expansion and revitalization of the Ross plant brings 175 jobs and the newest aluminum casting technology to keep this staple of the region growing and competitive in the global marketplace with talent from Ohio,” said JobsOhio CEO and President J.P. Nauseef.
AFS Corporate Member The Lawton Standard Co. has recently added American Iron & Alloys, LLC (AIA), located in Waukesha, Wisconsin, to the Lawton Standard family as part of its expansion strategy. AIA processes and distributes continuous cast iron, bronze bar, tubing, and other metal components. It also provides metal finishing and other services to the North American market. AIA primarily focuses on ductile and gray iron in round, square, and rectangular bars under the well-known Versa-Bar brand. The bars can be processed into cut-length, tubed, milled, or slit to plate configurations.
Effective November 1, AFS Corporate Member Fusium has acquired BSL Casting, a steel foundry based in Rimouski, Quebec, that will continue to operate under its existing name.
Fusium was created in 2018 following the acquisition by the owners of Saguenay Foundry of TMA Foundry in Trois-Rivières. The acquisition of BSL Casting allows Fusium to become a more flexible supplier for its existing customers.
Metalcasters heard the latest regulatory news, discussed recent advancements in best practices, and explored new technologies and services from industry suppliers at a pair of EHS conferences last month. Well over 100 people attended the 34th Environmental, Health and Safety Conference and its sister event, the 2022 Safety 101 Seminar, both hosted by AFS at the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency October 2-6.
AFS Corporate Member Victaulic, a manufacturer of mechanical pipe joining, fire protection, and flow control solutions, has acquired the business assets of Tennessee Metal Fabricating Corp. (TMF). The acquisition supports the company’s growth in the infrastructure market and increases its capacity for large-diameter piping solutions.
The addition of the TMF business includes three buildings totaling 125,000 sq.ft. and over 36 acres of land.
Signicast, a Form Technologies company, celebrated the opening of its latest investment casting facility in October. Milwaukee Finishing Complex (MFC) rounds out the family of Signicast locations in the Milwaukee area, expanding secondary operations and other finishing services while acting as an extension of the Hartford and Brown Deer facilities.
Wisconsin-based Winsert, a global advanced manufacturer of critical metal parts for Fortune 500 OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, has acquired Alloy Cast Products, Inc. (ACP), an investment casting and machining manufacturer of exotic cobalt alloys headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.
AFS Corporate Member Norican Group, home to DISA, ItalPresseGauss, StrikoWestofen, and Wheelabrator, has acquired U.S.-based Simpson Technologies, an AFS Corporate Member that makes equipment for the mixing, dosing, handling, reclamation, and analysis of sand. The 110-year-old family business is based in Aurora, Illinois, and has subsidiaries in Germany and India. It has a significant footprint in both foundry and chemical process industries.
AFS Corporate Member Waupaca Foundry won a national award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Plants program, which recognizes manufacturers for creating and implementing industrial energy and water efficiency projects, as well as renewable energy and energy resiliency projects. The award was given for an extensive upgrade to the iron casting supplier’s air compressor system at its foundry that increased energy efficiency and reduced annual energy and water usage.