Industry News

AFS Corporate Member Waupaca Foundry is one of 22 employers statewide recognized as a 2024 Vets Ready Employer by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and its Office of Veteran Employment Services (OVES). The annual award recognizes Wisconsin employers that have gone above and beyond to hire and support veterans and their families.

Approximately 10% of the foundry’s workforce are veterans of the armed services, and several team members have been employed while on active duty with the National Guard. The firm employs 3,500 people nationwide. 

AFS Corporate Member McWane Ductile of Phillipsburg, New Jersey, was among the winners of OSHA’s 2024 “Beat the Heat” contest. The annual contest highlights strong efforts to help protect workers from heat hazards.

This is the second consecutive year that one of McWane Ductile’s foundries have earned the recognition––in 2023, McWane Ductile Ohio in Coshocton won the award.

Senior leaders from across the U.S. Army gathered early in December at AFS Corporate Member Rock Island Arsenals Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center for a two-day war game about advanced manufacturing.

The session focused on enhancing and synchronizing efforts so the Army can best leverage technology to achieve its modernization and readiness goals. Advanced manufacturing is viewed as a potential game-changer for how the Army designs, produces, delivers, and sustains materiel capabilities. 

Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell visited AFS Corporate Member EJ in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on December 13. In addition to touring the operations, Pinnell discussed infrastructure, workforce, and area housing issues. 

AFS Corporate Member Kent Foundry has received local municipal go-ahead for a $10- to $12-million expansion to its Greenville, Michigan, plant. Plans for the project will likely be unveiled in the late first quarter or early second quarter. 

On November 19, the Greenville city voted unanimously to approve establishment of an industrial development district for Kent Foundry.  Kent Foundry, a manufacturer of gray and ductile iron castings is owned by Canadian-based  parent company Canerector Inc. of Toronto.

Private-equity group Stellex Capital Management has acquired two Pittsburgh-area manufacturers: a ferrous foundry and a forging and machining business, from Arcosa Inc. Both of the acquired companies supply a range of components for railroad and industrial buyers. McConway & Torley is a steel foundry with plants in Pittsburgh and Kutztown, PA, and 60,000 tons/year of melting capacity from three electric arc furnaces. Its cast products include couplers for freight trains and transit cars, knuckles and coupler parts, yokes and followers, striker parts, and draw bars.

The Ohio State University’s Center for Design and Manufacturing Excellence (CDME) is leading a project to improve the cybersecurity and operational efficiency of 3D-printed sand molds used in metal casting.  

In 1909, AFS Corporate Member Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry (WAF) got its start as the Manitowoc Brass Foundry Company and made castings for Harley-Davidson, Wisconsin Motors and Evinrude Outboard. Abraham Schwartz renamed the company Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in 1912 and began expanding product lines and offerings, including opening a brass and bronze foundry in the mid-1920s, which primarily served Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company. 

AFS Corporate Member South Milwaukee Foundry announced completion of several large capital improvement projects. It is part of the Appleton Group owned by global automation company, Emerson. 

To date, the 150,000-sq.-ft. foundry has:

University of Northern Iowa announced Jerry Thiel, director of Metal Casting and Foundry 4.0 Centers for 32 years will retire on effective August 30. UNI noted his work at the centers has contributed significantly to the success of both programs.

Thiel has a diverse industrial background and has held management positions in the metal casting and related industries for over 49 years. He started at the University of Northern Iowa as a foundry specialist in 1992.