Industry News
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.
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.
Premier Engineered Products’ (PEP, Grand Rapids, Michigan), which owns Appalachian Cast Products (Abingdon, Virginia), has a new investor; Charter Growth Capital Fund (CGCF) has provided mezzanine debt in support of PEP’s recapitalization. Birmingham, Michigan-based Colfax Creek is the lead investor in the transaction. Colfax Creek and foundry veteran Mike Ryan, formed PEP in January 2019 to recapitalize Appalachian Cast Products (ACP) and integrate Premier Die Casting's production into its Abingdon facility.
Lakeside Casting in Monroe City, Missouri, has announced plans to buy out the remaining $600,000 of its real estate lease with the city and expand this year, according to area’s local The Herald-Whig newspaper.
“My focus has always been on growing jobs,” Controlling Owner Chuck Mudd told reporter Forrest Gossett. “That’s the reason that we started this.” His company plans to build a new warehouse that will allow for manufacturing growth.
IBC Advanced Alloys, Franklin, Indiana, is planning to invest more than $5 million to build and outfit a 32,000-square-feet copper casting facility on its current property, according to a Daily Journal report by Leeann Doerflein. Also known as Non Ferrous Products, Inc., IBC manufactures beryllium and copper advanced alloys parts for the defense, aerospace, automotive, telecommunications and precision manufacturing industries.
AFS Corporate Member The C.A. Lawton Co. (DePere, Wisconsin) has acquired Penn-Marr, a gray-and-ductile iron foundry in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Penn-Mar manufactures multicored, gray and ductile iron castings ranging from 150 to 5,000 lbs. Using an air-set, nobake molding process, it serves the refrigeration/air conditioning, pump/compressor, and motor/generator industries.
AFS Corporate Member Humtown Products (Columbiana, Ohio), which serves the metalcasting industry with conventional and 3D printed sand cores and molds, has won two Manufacturing Leadership Awards from the National Association of Manufacturers: (1) in the Engineering and Production Technology Leadership category and (2) in the Talent Management Leadership category.
AFS Corporate Member Franklin Bronze Precision Components (Franklin, Pennsylvania) has upgraded its shell room with new robotic technologies––earlier this year, it upgraded the robotic arm and supervisory system in its Shell Room 2.
Additionally, the company’s operating platform––SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system––has been upgraded to the newest version available. The upgrade allows for unlimited future growth and flexibility of Franklin Bronze’s investment cast shell room processes.
As part of an extensive capital improvement of its foundry, AFS Corporate member Adalet, a Scott-Fetzer Company (Cleveland, Ohio) installed a new automatic DISA Matchplate (LaGrange, Georgia) 24/28 molding machine this spring, the latest generation of DISAs and the first of this size in the U.S. In addition, the company added a complete automated mold handling system custom-built by Summit Foundry Equipment (Fort Wayne, Indiana).
Sumitomo Corp. (Tokyo) has entered an agreement to invest in AFS Corporate Member Kimura Foundry America (KFA) and will hold a 35% interest in the Schaumburg, IL-based manufacturer of prototype casting using 3D printing technology.