Industry News

Midvale Industries celebrates 120 years

AFS Corporate Member Midvale Industries, a supplier of industrial process solutions, celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. It began in 1901 as a local foundry and mining supplier and today offers an expanded offering to clients across the U.S., including process solutions for foundry, die casting, aerospace, automotive, medical, metal finishing, manufacturing, painting and other industrial operations.

Ermak Foundry & Machining acquires Patriot Foundry & Castings, RDS Dock Hardware

AFS Corporate Member Ermak Foundry & Machining (Chaska, Minnesota) has acquired Patriot Foundry & Castings and RDS Dock Hardware of Franklin, New Hampshire. Customers will benefit from the combined capabilities to produce nonferrous products from green sand molds, no-bake/air set, permanent mold/gravity-fed die-cast, and the associated services of machining, heat treating, precision grinding, painting, anodizing/plating, and assembly. 

ACTION acquisition complements Webster Industries' equipment, castings lines

Northeastern-Ohio based Webster Industries, Inc., an AFS Corporate Member that makes conveyor chains, sprockets, vibrating conveyors and specialty castings, has acquired Action Equipment Company (ACTION), a manufacturer of vibratory conveying and process equipment. The combination will allow Webster to expand high-quality custom design offerings and vertically integrated production capacity, while fulfilling innovative product and service needs for the combined global customer base.

Smith & Richardson celebrating 100 years

In 1921, a salesman for the foundry industry, also an engineer, launched Smith & Richardson Inc. (Geneva, Illinois) to manufacture one product––a chaplet for use in casting. Since then, leveraging the founder’s skills in sales, marketing and technical expertise, AFS Corporate Member S&R has grown into a leading ISO 9001:2015-certified manufacturer of precision-machined parts and the only chaplet manufacturer in the world with multiple locations.

Three-part renovation in progress at Progressive Foundry

AFS Corporate Member Progressive Foundry, a ductile and gray iron matchplate job shop about 40 miles northwest of Des Moines, is approaching completion this May on two-thirds of a three-phase, $6.8 million renovation of its Perry, Iowa, facilities. The company serves a variety of markets including different types of pump companies, industrial vacuum and blower systems, municipal castings, agricultural, heavy truck and industrial burner systems.

Victaulic acquires Waupaca facility in Pennsylvania

Victaulic (Easton, Pennsylvania), a global manufacturer of mechanical pipe joining, fire protection and flow control solutions has purchased a 220,000-sq.-ft Waupaca manufacturing plant in Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania. When operating at full capacity, the facility will increase Victaulic’s foundry production capacity by 70 percent in the U.S. and allow for future growth as Victaulic’s business demands increase. The facility, including two foundry molding lines, will also enable Victaulic to produce larger scale products. 

TRM Equity acquires all assets of Elyria Foundry and Hodge Foundry

TRM Equity has acquired Elyria Foundry and Hodge Foundry (Elyria, Ohio), a company specializing in ductile iron castings up to 200,000 pounds and serving many markets including defense, oil and gas, construction equipment and mining. Elyria Foundry has operated since the early 1900s and has developed a strong technical and metallurgical team that drives its success. 

Kimura installs 4th furnace––with 1-ton capacity

A new Pillar Induction furnace with 1-ton melting capacity has been installed at AFS Corporate Member Kimura Foundry America, Inc. (Shelbyville, Indiana). The addition enables Kimura to meet customer demand for heavier casting parts, particularly in the construction, agricultural machinery, power generation, oil & gas, pump and compressor industries. The foundry also expects to improve pouring efficiency and casting turnaround thanks to the high-capacity furnace’s ability to pour multiple parts simultaneously.