Articles: Industry News

Ryobi Die Casting (Shelbyville, Indiana), a supplier of aluminum diecastings was recognized with an Excellence in Quality Award from Honda at its Annual Supplier Conference.  

Honda has more than 700 (OEM) suppliers that provide parts to 16 Honda plants in North America that produce Honda and Acura automobiles and light trucks and the engines and transmissions that power them.  Ryobi Die Casting was one of only 45 out of 736 OEM parts suppliers serving Honda with parts and components for mass production recognized with an award.   

AFS Corporate Member ATEK Metal Technologies (New Hampton, Iowa) is expanding its plant and technical capabilities to keep up with demand. The company has recently completed a significant expansion of its metal casting, heat treatment and finished machining capabilities. 

The merger between AFS Corporate Members Unimin Corporation and Fairmount Santrol is complete, and the new name of the company is Covia Holdings Corporation (Chesterland, Ohio).

AFS Corporate Member Spuncast Inc. (Watertown, Wisconsin) donated $5,000 to Watertown High School to support its manufacturing courses.

“We are enthusiastic to continue supporting the future of our community, especially since the Watertown community has supported our business throughout the past 42 years,” Don Payne, Spuncast CEO, said according to the Watertown Daily Times.

According to the report, the school has been working to finalize curriculum and select equipment for classes during the 2018-19 school year. and was working to raise $60,000.

AFS Corporate Member General Motors (Detroit) will power its casting operations in Bedford, Indiana, and Defiance, Ohio, with wind energy. The company is buying a total of 200 megawatts of wind energy from wind farms in Ohio and Illinois to power some facilities in Indiana and Ohio.

Albco Foundry (Lisbon, Ohio) has received ISO 9001:2015 certification from AMPLUS Global Associates.

“Becoming ISO 9001:2015 certified demonstrates our commitment to provide superior products and services that meet the requirements of our customers,” Joe Staffeld, owner, Albco Foundry, said according to BusinessJournalDaily.com. “As the industry and improvements in machinery and technology advance, it’s critical as an organization to be proactive and remain relevant through ISO 9001 standards.”

Trive Capital (Dallas), a private equity firm, through its affiliate WDC Acquisition LLC has acquired substantially all of the assets of Wellman Dynamics Corporation (Creston, Iowa) pursuant to Section 363 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Wellman is an aerospace supplier that manufactures large scale, complex magnesium and aluminum castings for the defense and commercial aerospace markets and other industrial segments.

The sale closed May 7.

Hitchiner Manufacturing Co. Inc. announced plans to expand its New Hampshire operations with the construction of a new, 85,000-square-foot facility on the company’s Elm Street Campus. 

The building represents a multi-phased $50 million capital investment and will house operations to support new growth in markets Hitchiner currently serves. The investment is contingent on securing financing and permits from the town and state. 

AFS Corporate Member Smith Foundry Company (Minneapolis) announced it will participate in the Industrial Manufacturing Technician (IMT) Apprenticeship program, an 18-month long, 3,000-hour program that will build a pipeline of highly qualified and diverse individuals prepared to enter middle- and high-skilled occupations within the manufacturing sector. 

Tooling & Equipment International (Livonia, Michigan) has won the AFS/Metal Casting Design & Purchasing Casting of the Year award for its motorcycle Cyclotron swingarm. TEI teamed with software company Autodesk to design and produce a casting that provides the ultimate performance characteristics with the minimum weight.