Industry News

Tooling & Equipment International (TEI), an AFS Corporate Member, has purchased its second  VX4000 system from voxeljet AG. TEI is one of the largest users of 3D sand printing in the U.S. and runs a fully equipped aluminum foundry in Livonia, Michigan. The investment will help the company further expand its capacities for additive manufacturing and tackle technically demanding projects for prototyping and production orders.  

Imperial Mining Group Ltd. and its partner, AFS Corporate Member Eck Industries are set to begin the prototyping phase of a joint program to make EV battery boxes for a major North American automotive manufacturer. The companies have completed tests that showed scandium-modified aluminum-magnesium (535-series) alloy components met or exceeded the OEM’s requirements.

Ligon Capital, an affiliate of Birmingham, Alabama-based Ligon Industries, has purchased Alcast Co. and its subsidiaries, Aluminum Castings Co. and Voss Pattern, for more than $50 million, according to a report from “Birmingham Business Journal.” The deal closed Sept. 30.

Alcast is a producer of fully machined permanent mold aluminum castings using a proprietary electromagnetic low-pressure process. With the purchase of Alcast, Ligon is now the largest independent provider of permanent mold castings in North America.

Automotive manufacturing corporation Stellantis plans to invest $229 million in three of its Kokomo, Indiana, plants to help the company reach its goal of achieving 40% low-emission vehicle sales in the U.S. by 2030. 

AFS Corporate Member Chicago Magnesium Casting Company is investing in new equipment to create dozens of new jobs in the Chicago's south suburb of Dixmoor, according to a web report by CBS Chicago. 

“We are excited about adding 40 new jobs to the Dixmoor facility, as well as investing $1.1 million to invest in state-of-the-art equipment to our facility,” said Bob Littlefield, president of the Chicago Magnesium Casting Co.

The company specializes in magnesium and aluminum castings for the aerospace industry.

Demand for products made by cookware specialist Lodge Cast Iron has doubled in the last two years, prompting the foundry to expand its molding capacity by 30% with new equipment that will push its yearly output at two South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, facilities from 70 million lbs. to 100 million. 

The foundry bought the first DISAMATIC D5 molding machine in the U.S and will install DISA’s full Monitizer digital solution, including the Artificial-Intelligence-driven Monitizer | PRESCRIBE––the latter is scheduled to be running by next spring. 

AFS Corporate Member Donsco Inc. recently rearranged the layout of one of its two plants for a more efficient working environment, which includes four Sinto Barinder high-speed, automated grinders. To maximize its equipment investment, the foundry sent a team to the manufacturer’s plant for four days of technical, hands-on training that included programming, fixture design, maintenance and program editing.  

JD Castings, based in Niagara, Wisconsin, is expanding six miles to the northwest in Iron Mountain, Michigan, which is just over the Wisconsin state line about 100 miles north of Green Bay. The foundry’s new facility is expected to create up to 24 new jobs and generate a total private investment of $770,000 with the support of a $200,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund. The company elected to expand in Michigan instead of at its existing facility in Wisconsin. 

Waterworks product specialists and foundry Ford Meter Box, an AFS Corporate Member in Wabash, Indiana, recently upgraded its existing matchplate molding machine to a DISA MATCH 14/19 with Automatic Core Setter, the first MATCH in the new 14/19 size to be delivered to a customer. 

ATEK Companies, parent firm of AFS Corporate Member Atek Metal Technologies, is celebrating 75 years of innovation and growth. Its other three operating companies, which occupy five locations in Minnesota and Iowa, are ATEK Access Technologies, Solar Plastics and Fluidall. The ATEK family of products serves several diverse industries including motorsports, recreational, transportation, industrial, sporting, agriculture, medical, military, government, and oil and gas.