AFS Corporate Member Lodge Manufacturing Co. (South Pittsburg, Tennessee) has begun operations at its second metalcasting facility in Tennessee.

The 127,000 sq. ft. facility is located blocks from the company’s original foundry, which is still in production. Lodge broke ground on the new plant in the middle of 2016 and production began in November 2017.

This facility, nicknamed the 3rd Street Foundry, has a melt center with two induction furnaces, a sand system and a pair of sand molding machines. With the new addition, Lodge has increased its manufacturing capacity by 75%.

“We made the pour from our new foundry on Nov. 20 and, while we continue to calibrate the new equipment and gear up operations, we’re still able to process cookware in the Sixth Street facility for seasoning, finishing and packing,” Mark Kelly, public relations manager, Lodge, said according to the Times Free Press. “But we’re up and running in our new facility now and eager to have the additional capacity for both our current product line and for new additions in the future.”