February 15, 2018 Guest Newsletter Posting – Established in 1990, Rache Corporation specializes in precision thin material fabrication, machining and rapid prototyping using laser technology. Over the years, we have become the industry leader in thin metal laser cutting, laser …
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Auto Parts Supplier Cooper-Standard Filed Chapter 11
NOVI, MICH. (Aug. 5, 1:15 p.m. ET) — The parent company of Novi, Mich.-based auto supplier Cooper-Standard Automotive Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Aug. 4, saying it can’t pay back its $1.17 billion in debt.
Cooper-Standard Holdings Inc. and its U.S subsidiaries filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., making it the 17th major U.S. auto supplier to file for bankruptcy protection this year, according to Automotive News.
The company, which has about 16,000 employees worldwide, makes door, body and sunroof seals and fluid handling systems. It ranks No. 65 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $2.60 billion in 2008.
It blames the downturn in U.S. auto sales for its troubles, and said it will continue to operate as it works out a restructuring plan with its creditors.
The plan under discussion now would reduce Cooper-Standard’s debt to $350 million, the company said.
Cooper-Standard’s largest unsecured creditors include Delaware-based Wilmington Trust Co. ($313 million senior note and $200 million senior note), Ohio’s environmental protection agency ($2.7 million) and Farmington Hills-based Robert Bosch LLC ($713,782), according to the bankruptcy filings.
“The company intends to continue operating ‘business as usual’ during the reorganization process and anticipates no interruption in its supply to customers,” Cooper-Standard said in a statement.
Some current lenders have agreed to provide Cooper-Standard with up to $175 million in debtor-in-possession financing, subject to court approval.
Cooper-Standard Automotive Canada Ltd. will seek relief under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, the company said in a statement.
Kinetic Die Casting manufactures zinc and aluminium die casting. If you would like a quote, please visit our website:Die Casting quote
U.S. Treasury Preparing for Chrysler Bankruptcy
Treasury Preparing for Chrysler Bankruptcy. The UAW announced that a settlement agreement has been reached with Chrysler, Fiat and the U.S. Treasury Department. When Chrysler’s Feb. 17 viability plan was rejected, President Obama gave Chrysler workers and the company a second chance, union officials said. This concessionary agreement, while painful, takes advantage of this opportunity.
The settlement agreement, subject to ratification by UAW members at Chrysler, meets the requirements of U.S. Treasury Department loans to the company. It includes modifications to the union’s 2007 collective bargaining agreement and the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA) trust.
Peter Morici, an economics professor at the University of Maryland, and keynote speaker at NADCA’s upcoming Metalcasting Government Affairs Conference remarked that the treasury plan could affect the wallets of taxpayers. “The Treasury plan reportedly preempts the bankruptcy judge by guaranteeing worker pensions and retiree health care benefits. Similarly, this sets a dangerous precedent for General Motors and Ford.” Morici stated.
Morici further commented, “Obama’s favoritism toward the union in these negotiations is a clear example of political expediency imposing grave economic costs. Specifically, Chapter 11 makes the potential deal with Fiat to provide small car designs to be built in Chrysler factories much less likely. Hence, the company that emerges from Chapter 11 will be much smaller than the one that would have emerged through the task force’s mediation, because the company that emerges from bankruptcy may not have small cars to make at a time when the market wants them. More of Chrysler’s car assembly plants will be permanently shuttered.”
Kinetic Die Casting utilizes die casting to manufacture parts like aluminum car parts, airplane parts, lighting parts and much, much more. If you would like to request a quote, please visit our website:Die Casting quote
Cash for Clunkers helps Automakers
DETROIT (Aug. 6, 11 p.m. ET) — Auto suppliers are ramping up production in line with automakers’ push to rebuild dealership inventories that have been depleted by widespread production shutdowns this summer and the cash-for-clunkers program.
Increased minivan production at the Chrysler Group to restock dealership lots and higher production of General Motors Co.’s GMT900 full-sized pickup platform is driving production increases at the U.S. plants of International Automotive Components Group North America, said John Smail Jr., IAC’s vice president of commercial operations .
Two or three weeks ago, “close to 80 or 85 percent” of IAC’s North American factories were shut down in some form, Smail said. “Most of our facilities are coming back to at least one shift, sometimes two shifts,” he said.
IAC supplies instrument panels, cockpits, door panels, flooring and acoustics.
Smail said cash for clunkers is also driving demand.
Samir Salman, CEO of the NAFTA region for Continental AG, says demand in North America is 10 to 20 percent higher across all company product lines compared with production levels before Chrysler’s bankruptcy, but the cash-for-clunkers program is only one factor driving the increases.
“One fact that we shouldn’t forget is that Chrysler was for roughly two months in bankruptcy where they idled all their production. And we had massive shutdowns from GM,” Salman said.
The depleted dealership inventories combined with cash for clunkers are increasing demand more quickly than would have happened normally.
Kinetic Die Casting is a aluminum and zinc die casting company. If you would like to know more information, please visit our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
Aluminum Heatsinks – Your Personal Air Cooler
Aluminum Heatsinks – Your Personal Air Cooler. A lot of manufacturers love purchasing aluminum heatsinks due to their efficient approach towards heat dissipation. If there is one thing that these products are known for, it should be that. In instances when there is a need for heat to be dispelled from one area to another, any manufacturer would immediately think of buying an aluminum heatsink. Not only does it provide hydraulic qualities in cooling different areas of a particular engine or machine, it also allows devices to be extra protected from exposure to very high temperature. As with all other electronic applications, aluminum heatsinks are primarily used in that respect.
Also made from brilliant method of aluminum die casting, most heatsinks have a net shape allowing them to take a variety of forms and dimensions in order to cater to all types of machines and functions. To date, these types of heatsinks are being produced at an alarming rate due to the high demand of automobile manufacturers and other industries that require heavy machinery. Thousands of aluminum heat sinks are being produced and shipped out to different parts of the globe in a daily basis. An advantage of using heatsinks made of aluminum, aside from its durable and lightweight feature, is that it does not need complex polishing once the output is made. Heatsinks are also very versatile that it can also be used inside computers to help dissipate heat caused by complex circuitry both inside and out. Since electricity ignites during electronic interaction, an aluminum heatsink helps depreciate this temperature.
Kinetic Die Casting is a Los Angeles die casting company that manufactures aluminum and zinc parts. If you would like more information, please visit our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
Marathon Automotive Group sold to Revstone
Marathon Automotive Group acquired SPX’s Contech Division (die casting) in 2007 for $146 million. It has since filed for bankruptcy. The PBGC has agreed to accept the pension plan and Marathon wants to sell the company to Revstone Industries, LLC., for $14 million and assumption of unspecified liabilities. The fly in the ointment? Ford Motor Co., Automotive Components Holdings LLC, BMW AG and Delphi filed a joint objection to the sale.
From the Detroit News, Tuesday, May 26, 2009:
PBGC to take over auto supplier Contech’s pension plan
David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington — The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation said Tuesday it will assume responsibility for a bankrupt Michigan auto supplier’s underfunded pension plan.
The government’s pension insurer will take over Portage-based Contech US LLC’s pension plan covering 532 workers and retirees effective immediately, the agency said in a statement.
According to PBGC estimates, the Contech US LLC Pension Plan is 38 percent funded, with assets of $8.4 million to cover benefit liabilities of $22 million. The agency expects to cover $12 million of the $13.6 million shortfall.
Contech LLC sought bankruptcy protection in January in Detroit after it had been acquired in 2007 by investment firm Marathon Asset Management LLC. It has nine U.S. plants, with its Walled Lake plant responsible for much of its revenue.
“This action is an integral part of our ongoing efforts to restructure Contech and meet the challenges of the automotive industry going forward. We continue to work closely with our lenders and customers to reach a consensus on the remaining changes that are necessary,” said Morris Rowlett, chairman & CEO of Contech in a statement in January when the company sought bankruptcy protection.
The PBGC will take over the assets and use insurance funds to pay guaranteed benefits earned under the plan, which ends Tuesday.
Retirees and beneficiaries will continue to receive monthly benefit checks without interruption, and future participants will receive their pensions when they are eligible to retire, the PBGC said.
Within the next several weeks, the PBGC will send notification letters to all participants in the Contech plan detailing the change.
Privately held Contech was founded in 1950 and builds light metal die casting and machining for automobile and parts manufacturers.
The company was sold from former owner SPX Corp. to Marathon Asset Management, a private equity firm, in 2007. Contech’s U.K. subsidiary based in Wales is not in bankruptcy.
Contech has six casting facilities in Michigan, Indiana and Tennessee, and had sales of $312 million in 2007, but saw sales fall to $223 million in 2008 as auto sales plummeted.
Marathon has sought to use Section 363 of the bankruptcy code to sell nearly all of Contech’s casting assets to Revstone Industries LLC.
Revstone would pay $14 million and assume certain liabilities from its casting facilities under the proposed sale.
Last week, several major customers of Contech filed an objection to the sale.
Ford Motor Co., Automotive Components Holdings LLC, BMW AG and Delphi filed a joint objection to the sale. Ford and Delphi both have said they won’t accept Revstone as a replacement supplier.
dshepardson@detnews.com (202) 662-8735
Kinetic Die Casting manufactures products like aluminum hardware, and aluminum boxes. If you would like more information on Kinetic Die Casting, please visit our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
