Industry News

AFS Corporate Member General Motors recognized RYOBI DIE CASTING (USA), Inc. as a Supplier of the Year for 2023. GM recently celebrated honorees at the 32nd annual Supplier of the Year event in Miami, Florida. 

General Motors has recognized its top global suppliers of 2023 during its annual Supplier of the Year recognition event. In total, 86 suppliers were recognized with a Supplier of the Year award, and an additional eight Overdrive Awards were handed to suppliers who far exceeded expectations.  This is the 5th consecutive year RYOBI has received the award. 

AFS Corporate Member Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry (WAF) has acquired ATEK Metal Technologies of New Hampton, Iowa. The acquisition expands WAF’s current operations while deepening its reach into key markets including motorsports, transportation, agriculture and the medical industry.

Georgia Southern University received the Foundry Educational Foundation overture grant to build 20 Foundry In A Box kits for high schools in the Statesboro region. The first kit was delivered to engineering teacher John Hendrix at Portal Middle High School. 

“The students really enjoyed it. I had several say they thought they wouldn’t like it but at the end they were telling me how fun it was,” said Hendrix.

AFS Corporate Member Superior Graphite has reached an agreement with Unimetal to divest its recarburizer business.
Unimetal will take over the Desulco trademark, the X-Carb brand, and commercial operations, using the Superior Graphite Heat Treatment process. 

“These products will perfectly fit into our portfolio for metallurgical applications”, says Alan Yung, CEO of Unimetal.

AFS Corporate Member Hunter Foundry Machinery announced it is celebrating its 60th anniversary. In 1963, Al Hunter had an idea for a new type of automated green sand molding machine and founded the company the following year. 

Hunter’s machines have evolved the foundry industry during the last 60 years with many refinements and technological improvements. Focused solely on the foundry industry, Hunter has more than 1,900 molding machines and mold handling systems installed around the world today.  

AFS Corporate Member Bingham & Taylor honored its workforce on National Employee Appreciation Day, observed annually on the first Friday of March––but the company says it extends staff recognition beyond just a single day. To further its mission of fostering a culture of collaboration, Bingham & Taylor has dedicated years to developing and enhancing the C2ARES values program, a cornerstone of its corporate culture. The initiative, shaped by both executives and staff, stands for Collaboration, Creativity, Accountability, Respect, Excellence, and Sustainability. 

r Grede received the 2024 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year Award, which honors a select group of businesses and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to energy efficiency and the transition to a clean energy economy.  Winners are selected from a network of thousands of ENERGY STAR partners.

AFS Corporate Member Eagle Alloy hosted a visit from its Michigan State Representative, Luke Meerman, and his son Kennett. Rep. Meerman has fought against damaging regulations that present obstacles for the company and the metalcasting industry in general.

 “As a fifth generation dairy farmer, Rep. Meerman is intimately aware of the challenges that face small businesses, and we thank him for his efforts on our behalf,” said Jeff Cook, chief sales and marketing officer Eagle Alloy. 

The Manufacturing Leadership Council announced AFS Corporate Member Humtown is among the finalists in the 2024 Manufacturing Leadership Awards for their outstanding achievements in the Transformational Business Cultures Category.  
“This is the team of finalists who is leading us all into a new and better direction in the manufacturing future,” said Humtown President Mark Lamoncha. 

AFS Corporate member AMERICAN Cast Iron Pipe Company’s “Right Way” Next Generation Melt Project is one of 33 projects selected for award negotiation by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). In total, the selected projects are eligible to receive up to $6 billion to accelerate decarbonization projects and provide American manufacturers with a competitive advantage in the emerging clean energy economy.