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Tag Archives: Hunter Foundry

Hunter Automated Completes Buyout Agreement

Bill Hunter assumes 100% ownership of pioneering company in automatic matchplate molding machinery for sand casting

Bill Hunter signs agreement to obtain 100% ownership of the company

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Hunter Automated Machinery today announced the completion of an asset buyout of the company and all its foreign subsidiaries by current President Bill Hunter.  In his words, “We have successfully crossed the bridge of generational transition with this arrangement.”  Mr. Hunter bought the assets of the company held by his three sisters, Dianne, Linda and Heather.  All were the children of Al Hunter, the late founder of the company that began building the automatic matchplate molding machine Al invented, in 1964.  Today, Hunter machines and mold handling lines are operating in foundries worldwide.  Hunter operates plants in the USA, Brazil and China.  The company has European headquarters in Italy and regional offices in India.

Karen Hunter, corporate secretary, Bill Hunter, president and John Purtill, corporate attorney at signing

Bill Hunter noted, “I am very thankful to my sisters, who worked closely with me on this agreement, allowing us to keep the company in the family.  Likewise, I will always honor the memory of my father, who taught me much about this business and left a legacy of innovation and achievement in the global foundry market.  We fully intend to continue and build on the company’s long-standing traditions of technology, quality and service to the industry.”

The agreement was finalized on June 27, 2012.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact:

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

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Frazier & Frazier Adapts to Changing Metalcast Market

Texas foundry buys new equipment, including Hunter XL matchplate molding machine, to respond to customer needs with fast pattern changes, shorter runs and on-the-fly flexibility in job scheduling, deliveries 

Frazier & Frazier is a gray and ductile iron foundry in Coolidge, Texas and maintains over 8000 pattern to serve its large customer base in the oil & gas, agricultural, wind energy, waterworks and other markets

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-In the heart of Limestone County sits Coolidge, Texas, halfway between Dallas and Houston.  This classic American small town is home to another classic, Frazier & Frazier Industries, a ductile and gray iron foundry, established in 1972 by C.W. Frazier as a traditional cope-and-drag sandcasting operation with two squeezers and run today as a formidable shop by Plant Manager Will Frazier.  An ISO 9002 Certified process operation, F&F combines the best of the old ways with the newest casting technologies and equipment in the market.  As Will Frazier points out, “This is one of the biggest reasons we’ve continued to prosper, while so many other foundries have disappeared.  We recognize what works and what doesn’t, to best suit our current business and market conditions.”

Once a heavy production shop, F&F today continues to support their large batch customers, but has reshaped the business model in many ways, according to Frazier.  “We have traditionally worked in pieces from a few ounces up to 150 pounds or more.  The large runs were more typical in days past, while we saw a new business environment emerging, several years ago, when the market began to decline overall.”  He continued to explain how many of the company’s traditional customers began to reduce their inventories and thus placed shorter run orders with much tighter lead times.  In something of a “perfect storm” scenario, this combination of increased job numbers and more urgent shipping requirements literally changed the pace of business at F&F.  Frazier notes, “It’s not unusual for us to come in on a Sunday to finish a job for a customer who really needs it…and we rarely charge a premium, because we know how tough things are, for most of our accounts.”

Sample parts produced by Frazier & Frazier

While the oil & gas market applications are prominent here, as they are with most foundries in the region, F&F currently sells to end product manufacturers for the automotive, agricultural, wind energy, municipal water works and other market segments, a strategy that has helped to maintain a better balance in this shop’s workload.  With its own sales force plus several manufacturers’ rep organizations in the field, Frazier & Frazier boasts customers in a wide variety of markets and as far away as Indiana, a relatively rare achievement in the foundry business, especially when larger, heavier workpieces are involved.

Hunter XL2024 matchplate molding system

With over 8000 patterns in-house, F&F today experiences as many as 15 pattern changes per day per machine on the floor.   This further complicated the job scheduling and work flow.  Will Frazier and his team of Bob Pranger, general manager and Harlon Easton, vice president of sales, quickly saw the need for more automation in the machinery lineup.

F&F still does hand-rammed oil and air set cores, but over the years they’ve acquired automatic coresetting equipment, as well as automated molding machines, including the most recent purchase, a Hunter XL2024 automatic matchplate molding machine, which is used with the already in-place Hunter mold handling turntable system at F&F, as are other molding machines here.  Three melting units feed the certified chemically correct iron to the molding stations.  Currently, this shop does approximately 70% of its work in ASTM Class 60-100 ductile and 30% in Class 15-50 gray iron.

The XL2024 is a fully automated matchplate molding system, using gravity-fill technology pioneered by Hunter.  It produces sand molds up to 20” x 24” with shallow 6-1/2” cope and 5-1/2” drag (165mm/140mm) at 180 cycles per hour, using 400 lbs. (181kg) of sand.  Variable squeeze surface pressures to 142 psi (10kg/cm2) can be achieved in production.

This latest Hunter machine continued the tradition of leading-edge sandcasting technology used at Frazier & Frazier.  Although several generations of Hunter and other brands of machines have been used here, when a new machine was planned, Will Frazier notes there were some key criteria to be met.  “We’d been having critical problems with another machine builder, getting parts and service.  We always knew the Hunter folks were excellent in those areas based on past experience, plus they were willing to provide considerable application engineering assistance and set-up help with the new machine.  Coupling that with their stability as a company and great reputation in the world foundry market, we looked at all our options and settled on the XL2024.”  Frazier further cites his long relationship with Hunter’s Mike Hughes as a factor.  “Mike came down here several times to help us and, since the machine has been up and running, he’s stayed in close touch with us, even though we’ve had no performance issues with the machine.”

Will Frazier also points out that, currently, over 20% of the orders at F&F are rush and the quick changeover time of the Hunter machine makes it a highly productive piece of equipment and a definable competitive advantage in the market for his shop.

Frazier & Frazier provides its customers with metal castings as well as CNC machining, heat treating and galvanizing services, when needed.  The shop has a fully equipped quality inspection department, highlighted by CMM and other state-of-the-art lab apparatus.



For further information on this story, interested parties may contact:

FRAZIER & FRAZIER INDUSTRIES, INC.
817 South First Street P.O. Box 279
Coolidge, Texas 76635 USA
Phone:  254-786-2293
Fax:  254-786-2284
Web:  www.ffcastings.com
Email:  willfrazier@ffcastings.com
Attention:  Will Frazier, Plant Manager

Or

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

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Hunter Open House To Feature New Maus Grinding Center For Metal Casters

SAM 600G machine being introduced to the foundry market at open house, to be held at Hunter Automated near Chicago on May 19

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Hunter Automated Machinery today announces an open house, to be held at company headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, near Chicago, next Thursday, May 19, from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.   During this event, plant tours will be conducted, plus demonstrations will be offered on a new grinding center from Maus, one of Hunter’s machinery partners, whom Hunter represents in North America.

The SAM 600G is a fully automated CNC automatic grinding center, compact yet powerful, with four-tool capacity and a product load/unload time less than four seconds. 

Built with a rotary turntable for loading/unloading of the workpieces, this Maus machine can significantly improve the finishing operations.  Multi-spindle grinding is programmable for cutting of risers and gating, plus surface and internal grinding.

In the North American market, Hunter also represents Space’, Primafond and Versatile, all builders of related foundry equipment for metalcasting.

Hunter and its partners will all be exhibiting at GIFA, the international foundry exposition, upcoming June 28-July 2, 2011 in Dusseldorf, Germany.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact:

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

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The Maus SAM 600G, a CNC grinding center for cast metals finishing, will be introduced to the North American foundry market at an open house, to be held at Hunter Automated in Schaumburg, IL, near Chicago, on May 19.

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Travis Pattern Buys Its Fourth Hunter Molding System

Hunter XL2024 matchplate molding system, just purchased by Travis Pattern & Foundry to boost their production. This is the fourth Hunter machine now in operation at Travis.

Spokane foundry, largest privately-owned aluminum caster west of the Mississippi, adds to its already impressive capacity with new matchplate molding system

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Travis Pattern & Foundry Inc., a major producer of aluminum castings for the irrigation, power transmission substation and general-purpose fittings markets, as well as the originators of Li’l Mac sinker molds for the fishing industry, announces its purchase of a fourth Hunter matchplate molding system, the XL2024.  According to Gene Johnson, project manager at Travis, “This new line will expand our already substantial casting capabilities for aluminum, as well as brass and cast iron work.  We’re seeing an upturn in our business and purchased the machine in anticipation of increasing demand.”  The machine is scheduled to be operational by the end of March, 2011. 

The XL2024 is a fully automated matchplate molding system, using gravity-fill technology pioneered by Hunter.  It produces sand molds up to 20” x 24” with shallow 6-1/2” cope and 5-1/2” drag (165mm/140mm) at 180 cycles per hour, using 400 lbs. (181kg) of sand.  Variable squeeze surface pressure to 142 psi (10kg/cm2) can be achieved in production.

Travis Pattern, founded in 1922 and now a fourth-generation company, is the largest privately-owned aluminum caster (over 7,000,000 lbs./3,181,818kg annually) west of the Mississippi and boasts a network of affiliated companies through which their castings are marketed.  The company also produces a variety of brass and cast iron products.  Travis products are sold throughout North America.

Gene Johnson further described his company’s use of their Hunter molding systems.  “We typically run jobs in the hundreds up to 1000 pieces.  The fast pattern changeover and the flexibility of the Hunter system really speeds our production.”  He estimated approximately 90% of the jobs run on the new Hunter machine will be aluminum, with the balance being brass.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact: TRAVIS PATTERN & FOUNDRY INC. 1413 E. Hawthorne Road Spokane, WA 99218-3100 Phone:  509-466-3545 Fax:  509-467-6465 Web:  www.travispattern.com  Email:  tpfgj@travispattern.com

Attention:  Gene Johnson, Project Manager

Or

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION 2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, Illinois 60196-1094 USA Phone:  +1 847 397 5136 Email:  kpurdy@hunterauto.com  Web: www.hunterauto.com Attention:  Kevin Purdy, Vice President

Editor Note:  Please direct all publication-generated inquiries to Kevin Purdy at Hunter.  Thanks!

Agency contact for Hunter: Tim Daro Bernard & Company Palatine, Illinois (Chicago) USA +1 847 934 4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com  www.bernardandcompany.com

Travis Pattern produces a variety of aluminum, bronze and cast iron products at its 220,000 sq. ft. complex in the Spokane, Washington area.  Sand casting, permanent mold and no bake operations are conducted here, as well as machining, heat treating and galvanizing.

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Magna Electro Casting Purchases Maus Grinding Center

Major Indian caster anticipates dramatic improvement in surface quality and production rates from new Italian grinding/fettling center 

 

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Magna Electro Castings Limited (Tamilnadu, India), a major producer of small to medium ductile and gray iron castings, has announced its purchase of a new grinding/fettling center from Maus SpA (Padua, Italy), according to company sources.  The machine is a Maus SAM 600G, a compact yet powerful automatic grinding center, with four-tool capacity and product load/unload time less than four seconds.

Mr. N. Krishna Samaraj, managing director for Magna, stated it was the company’s expectation that this machining system, scheduled for start-up after July, 2011, will result in significant improvements in the surface quality and production rates at the company.  Magna is a vertically integrated foundry, as it performs various machining, surface treatment and heat treating operations, in addition to its full foundry capabilities for various products sold to the valve, refrigeration, rail, hydraulics, automotive, wind turbine and other industries worldwide. 

Magna runs a fully automated sand prep and mold line, as well, using equipment from its longtime supplier, Hunter Automated Machinery, who represents Maus in various world market areas. Magna currently runs a Hunter HMP20E Automatic Molding Machine (1994) and an HLH 20 Type II mold handling system (2007).

Magna is ISO 9001:2000 and ISO/TS 16949 certified for its Quality Management System.

The sale of this Maus grinding/fettling machine was finalized between Mr. N. Krishna Samaraj for Magna and Mr. Ashwin Katke of Carraro, the parent company of Maus, with offices in India.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact:

MAGNA ELECTRO CASTINGS LIMITED 43, Balasundaram Road Coimbatore – 641 -018 Tamilnadu, India Phone:  +91 4322 2240109 Email:  magnacast@vsnl.com Web:  www.magnacast.com Attention:  Mr. N. Krishna Samaraj, Managing Director

Or

MAUS SpA Via Caltana, 28 35011 Campodarsego Padova, Italy Phone: +39 0499299311 Sandra Selwan, Marketing Manager Sandra_Selwan@maus.it www.maus.it

Or

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION 2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, Illinois 60196-1094 USA Phone:  +1 847 397 5136 Email:  kpurdy@hunterauto.com Web: www.hunterauto.com Attention:  Kevin Purdy, Vice President

Editor Note:  Please direct all publication-generated inquiries to Kevin Purdy at Hunter.  Thanks!

Agency contact for Hunter: Tim Daro Bernard & Company Palatine, Illinois (Chicago) USA +1 847 934 4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com

www.bernardandcompany.com

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Hunter and Maus Sign Representative Agreement

Hunter to represent Maus in U.S., Canada and Australia for grinding machine sales and service

As announced at CastExpo 2010, just concluded in Orlando, Florida this week, Maus SpA (Padua, Italy) has signed an agreement with Hunter Automated Machinery Corporation (Schaumburg, Illinois) to represent the Maus line of grinding machines and related equipment to the foundry markets in the U.S., Canada and Australia, effective immediately.

This announcement was made by Maus CEO, Roberto Sammartin, and Hunter President, Bill Hunter.

Maus is a major supplier to the world foundry market of surface grinding and riser cutoff machinery, as well as automated work cells and complete transfer lines.  The U.S. operation of Maus is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Hunter Automated Machinery is likewise a longtime leading supplier to the foundry market, having pioneered automated matchplate molding machinery for sand casters.  Today, through various affiliate and representative agreements, Hunter also brings a broad line of automated mold handling, core resetters and sand prep testing equipment to foundries worldwide.  Hunter operates facilities in the U.S., Brazil, China and Italy.

For Maus, Hunter will provide sales and service representation, as well as test cutting and machine utilization studies for metalcasters, with an initial Maus grinding machine from the industry standard-setting SAM line installed in the Hunter headquarters, near Chicago.  Maus will continue to supply technical assistance and application engineering from its existing Virginia Beach tech center.

According to Sandra Selwan, marketing manager for Maus in Italy, “We see great potential in this agreement, as our machines will now be represented by a name known to foundries worldwide.  Coupled with our machine quality and innovative engineering, Maus believes the synergy between our company and Hunter will produce substantial mutual benefit.”  Ms. Selwan made these comments from the CastExpo, where both companies were exhibiting their machinery and engineering capabilities to metalcasters from every corner of the world.

For more details, please contact:

MAUS SpA
Via Caltana, 28 35011 Campodarsego Padova, Italy
Phone: +39 0499299311
Email: Sandra_Selwan@maus.it www.maus.it
Attention: Sandra Selwan, Marketing Manager

MAUS USA
2505 International Parkway Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: (757) 689-3725
Fax:(757) 689-2973
Web: www.maus.it 
Email: Alberto.fabris@mausna.com
Attention: Alberto Fabris, VP

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Conect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

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