AFS Corporate Member The C.A. Lawton Co. (Lawton) (DePere, Wisconsin), owned by private equity firm Oakland Standard Co., has acquired Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics (Midwest) (Minster, Ohio) from Nidec Minster Corp. (Nidec). The Ohio iron foundry will operate as a second location of Lawton.

A 117-year-old foundry with wide ranging engineering and machining services, Midwest offers gray and ductile castings up to 45,000 lbs., which will nearly double the manufacturing capacity of Lawton. The Minster location brings Lawton logistical benefits in a prime manufacturing center.

“Since our founding in 1896, our ability to locally source high-quality parts has been extremely important to both our internal product as well as the external customers we serve,” said David Winch, executive officer at Nidec. “Over that same period, the metal forming industry and especially the foundry business has adapted to many changes. We believe that in today’s market, domestic production of these products and quality standards is best accomplished as a team – increasing available resources to serve customer needs as well as supply chain availability. We are very happy to have found this operational partner in The C.A. Lawton Co.”

Alex Lawton, CEO of Lawton’s specialty metals platform––which also includes Temperform, LLC, and Damascus Steel Casting Co–– will lead the integration of the businesses and management teams.

“The combination of The C.A. Lawton Co. and Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics creates a unique powerhouse in the gray iron space,” Lawton said. “Together we have literally hundreds of years of history coupled with modern approaches to meeting metal casting needs. Couple that with the rest of the partners on the steel side of our platform and we are indeed crafting the premier supplier-partner where reliability meets flexibility.”

Lawton President Barry Adamski added, “We are excited to welcome [Midwest] to The C.A. Lawton, Co. family. Our combined foundry experience of more than 250 years allows us to be a unique supply source and resource to the iron casting industry. We believe that with our forward intention of planet, people, and then profit, we can help shape the foundry of the future to better serve our existing, as well as new, customers.”