Articles: Industry News

To support their goal of manufacturing quality parts, Toyota Industries Corp. and Siemens have cooperated to develop artificial intelligence (AI) that can predict product abnormalities in aluminum diecasting. It improves quality and productivity by using the AI application in Industrial Edge, the Siemens edge computing platform for industry. 

The initiative is an example of digital transformation in manufacturing, and Toyota Industries Corp. aims to use it to further evolve their technology and incorporate it into their production plants in Japan and overseas. 

IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. (Franklin, Indiana) a beryllium and copper advanced alloys company, has received purchase orders for beryllium alloy parts totaling more than $1 million that are used in Raytheon Technologies‘ Advanced Targeting Forward Looking Infrared (ATFLIR) system for the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Super Hornet aircraft.

Gränges, a Swedish aluminum supplier of rolled aluminum products for heat exchanger applications, specialty packaging and niche markets, says it will invest $33 million to expand its aluminum continuous casting operations in Huntingdon, Tennessee, to meet growing demand from North American customers. The expansion includes investment in buildings and a new casting line. When completed, the casting capacity in Huntingdon will increase by about 25,000 tons per year and will enable higher capacity utilization in the downstream rolling and slitting operations.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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 (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. 

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.