The Many Uses Of Aluminum Die Cast Parts Types. Aluminum is a type of metal that is silvery and lightweight, and it makes up a huge number of domestic items, such as pots and pans, aluminum foil, as well as …
Continue reading
Aluminum Company Aleris International files for bankruptcy protection
Aleris International files for bankruptcy protection
Posted by Robert Schoenberger/Plain Dealer Reporter
BEACHWOOD — Beachwood-based aluminum company Aleris International filed for bankruptcy protection Thursday, saying the financial drain of the weak economy was too great.
“Even though this is a tough process to go through, it will clearly make us a stronger company,” Aleris Chairman and Chief Executive Steven Demetriou said during an interview late Thursday. The owner of the Erie BayHawks NBA D-League squad added that Aleris’ operations are not the problem. The company’s massive debt load is.
The company will continue operating during bankruptcy, although it has already idled several plants in Indiana and North Carolina.
Aleris said it has arranged for $1.1 billion in financing (a $500 million loan and a $575 million credit arrangement) to keep it operating through bankruptcy. That financing will let it continue to pay employees and run facilities as it restructures.
The bulk of the company’s debt comes from its rapid expansion since its formation less than five years ago.
Investors formed Aleris in 2004 by merging Kentucky’s Commonwealth Aluminum with Texas-based IMCO Recycling. In 2006, the company went private when the Texas Pacific Group bought it for $3.3 billion.
The Texas Pacific purchase was a leveraged buyout, meaning the company borrowed nearly all the money for the purchase. Demetriou said the $2.5 billion in debt raised in 2006 is the main reason the company had to file for bankruptcy protection.
“At the time we did the deal, the $2.5 billion of debt we had was the right amount,” Demetriou said. At the time, aluminum prices were high and climbing, and analysts expected prices to increase for years.
But over the past six months, aluminum prices have tumbled along with steel, oil and other commodities.
“With today’s operating environment, clearly the debt is unsupportable,” Demetriou said. He added that the company may need to take other restructuring steps but that the main focus will be financial.
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, Aleris said it had assets worth about $4.9 billion and about $4.2 billion in debt.
Under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, companies can stop paying creditors while they work out new payment schedules. Typically, the company’s creditors end up owning most or all of the restructured company.
In Ohio, Aleris has its Beachwood headquarters and an aluminum rolling mill in Uhrichsville. The company had another mill in Walton Hills, but it was closed last year.
Only two of the company’s 30 largest creditors are in Northeast Ohio, according to the court filings. Aleris said it owes about $1.5 million to Ferropem, a Medina sales office for a European silicon company. Aleris owes $840,486 to Metal Conversions Ltd., a Mansfield company that makes aluminum-processing equipment.
Aleris’ European, Asian, South American, Mexican and Canadian operations were not included in the filing.
ADDITIONAL NOTES ABOUT DIE CASTING COMPANY CLOSURES:
Coast Die Casting Company closed their doors for a final time July 3, 2009. Coast Die Casting Company sold their business operations to Kinetic Die Casting Company.
Employee Free Choice Act – A Limitation on Workers Rights
Employee Free Choice Act – A Limitation on Workers Rights. NADCA strongly urges you to contact your Senator and House Representative – express your opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act, a card check legislation that would effectively eliminate workers’ rights to a private ballot when deciding to form a union.
Under this proposed legislation, a union would be able to force an employer to recognize it based merely on a collection of signed cards, called a card-check. During the card-check process, employees are asked to sign cards that indicate support of a union in front of union organizers, their fellow employees and sometimes their employer. This is a process that invites intimidation and coercion and ultimately leads to widespread disenfranchisement of workers by eliminating their right to a secret ballot. This is most certainly not a step in the right direction.
The National Labor Relations Board already has strict procedures to ensure fair private ballot elections, free of employer or union coercion. These existing procedures are no threat to unions; they lead to swift and fair elections. Most elections are held within 56 days, and labor unions prevail 55 percent of the time.
NADCA advocates and strongly advises its members to oppose any card check legislation should it come to the floor of the Senate in the 111th Congress. Secret ballots elections are the foundation of America’s democratic process and workers deserve no less.
Kinetic Die Casting is a california die casting company that manufactures die cast parts. If you would like more information or request a quote, vist our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
Die Casting Facilities are exempt from pending EPA Aluminum Area Source Rules
Die Casting Facilities are exempt from pending EPA Aluminum Area Source Rules. For many years NADCA has worked to keep die casters exempt from the EPA Area Source Rules for non-ferrous foundries. These rules attempt to control hazardous air pollutants released during the melting of aluminum and non-ferrous alloys. On January 15 of this year, proposed revisions to these rules were published.
Many die casters are concerned that with the revised rules their exemption is expiring. This is not the case. It has been confirmed through multiple knowledgeable sources die casters will remain exempt as long as they continue to melt clean sources of metal. NADCA is conducting its own investigation of these revisions as well as any further EPA rules that could concern die casters. Look in the April issue of LINKS for an article that will both identify clean sources of metal and further discuss EPA rules.
Kinetic Die Casting manufactures die casting metal parts creating products like roofing tile molds, lighting parts, and military parts. If you would like more information about Kinetic Die Casting, visit our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
Aluminum die casting process
The process of aluminum die casting involves the injection of molten aluminum into molds or casts by using very high pressure. Four essential steps are undertaken in aluminum die casting, first of which is spraying the mold with lubricant and closing the die cast. The lubricant is used not only to facilitate casting removal but also to contribute in controlling the temperature of the die during the casting process.
Next, high pressure is used to inject or shoot the molten aluminum into the die. The pressure is maintained once the die is completely filled and the casting has solidified. After the casting has cooled enough, the dies are then opened and ejector pins remove the shots inside. Scraps are separated from the castings, oftentimes through a special trimming device in a hydraulic press or power press. Secondary operations may be necessary in some aluminum die casting that could entail plating, painting or buffing or tapping a hole in the cast parts.
The high-pressure injection is the most critical step in Aluminum die casting process. The entire cavity of the die cast or mold has to be completely filled with the molten aluminum before any of the casting’s part solidifies. If the injection or shot is swift enough, there won’t be casting discontinuities even in thin, difficult-to-fill sections of the die cast.
Kinetic Die Casting manufactures products like heatsink die casting, aluminum housings, and lighting fixtures. If you would like more information, please visit our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
Auto supplier Contech LLC files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
Auto supplier Contech LLC files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
by Alex Nixon | Kalamazoo Gazette
PORTAGE, MI — Local auto supplier Contech LLC has filed for federal bankruptcy protection citing weakness in the automotive industry for its financial problems, the Portage-based company announced Friday.
Contech, which employs about 65 workers at its Portage headquarters and operates nine plants in four states, said it will reorganize its operations under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
“The move, which was made with the support of Contech’s key customers, will make it possible to relieve Contech’s strong underlying operations from significant debt obligations, sell certain non-core operations and address the unprecedented low volumes in the North American automotive industry by rationalizing its operational cost structure,” the company said in a written statement.
Contech is a metal-part casting company that supplies the parts automotive and heavy truck industries. It leases in the Trade Centre office complex in Portage. The company was acquired in 2007 by New York-based private equity firm Marathon Asset Management from Charlotte, N.C.-based SPX Corp. for $146 million.
In its statement, Contech said it’s “conducting normal business operations, and remains focused on serving its customers.”
It expects to use interim financing and cash flow from operations to continue making parts and paying employees, the company said. The company employs a total of 1,000 workers.
“This action is an integral part of our ongoing efforts to restructure Contech and meet the challenges of the automotive industry going forward,” Morris Rowlett, chairman and chief executive officer, said in the statement.
“Over the past year, we have faced the same challenges many of our competitors and colleagues in the automotive industry have faced resulting from significantly reduced production levels at our largest customers,” Rowlett said.
The company said its United Kingdom operations aren’t affected by the bankruptcy filing.
Kinetic Die Casting manufactures die cast parts for their customers. If you would like to know more about what is die casting or if you would like a quote, please visit our website:Kinetic Die Casting Company
