Accuride Boosts North American Aluminum Truck Wheel Capacity
January 03 2012 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
Accuride Corporation (NYSE: ACW) – a leading supplier of
components to the commercial vehicle industry – today announced
that it significantly enhanced its aluminum wheel production
capacity during 2011 through a combination of strategic
acquisitions, key process technology investments, and transfers of
aluminum wheel machining lines within its operations. These steps
were part of a $35 million strategic initiative to boost Accuride’s
ability to serve the commercial vehicle industry’s increasing
demand for high-quality aluminum wheels.
“Many factors, including fuel economy requirements, residual
value and aesthetics, are driving the growth in aluminum wheel
demand in the North American commercial vehicle industry,” said
Rick Dauch, President and Chief Executive Officer, Accuride.
“Accuride is investing to ensure that we have the right production
capacity in place when and where our customers need it, whether for
steel or aluminum wheels. We’re also raising our standards for
product dependability and finish to meet customers’ ever-increasing
expectations.”
In June 2011, Accuride acquired substantially all of the assets
of Forgitron Technologies LLC, including an 80,000-square-foot
aluminum wheel manufacturing facility located in Camden, South
Carolina. Accuride stopped production at Camden during the
following month to convert its production capacity to the Accuride
brand standards. Plant manufacturing systems and controls, as well
as customer order management and sales programs were also
integrated into Accuride systems. Now producing Accuride®-branded
aluminum wheels for the commercial vehicle market, the Camden plant
increased Accuride’s aluminum wheel manufacturing capacity in North
America by 21 percent.
In November 2011, Accuride launched its new Mega-Line – one of
the highest-technology aluminum wheel production lines in North
America – at its plant in Erie, Pa. The new Mega-Line employs a
fully automated manufacturing process that uses a centralized,
closed-loop system for chip and coolant management. The line’s
eight robots take a forged, spun and heat-treated raw wheel through
the turning, pre-stress, milling, coining and R�sler surface
finishing processes to produce durable, high-gloss aluminum wheels
that are ready for shipment with zero manual intervention. The
Mega-Line established a new industry benchmark in process
technology and boosted Accuride’s total aluminum wheel
manufacturing capacity by another 42 percent.
In response to growing demand in Mexico, Accuride also
transferred an existing manual-process aluminum wheel machining
line to Accuride de Mexico’s 226,000-square-foot Monterrey, Mexico
plant during the summer. The new aluminum wheel line was operating
at full capacity in November 2011, establishing Accuride de Mexico
as the country’s only single-source supplier of both steel and
aluminum wheels for the local medium- and heavy-duty commercial
vehicle market. The capacity expansion also positioned Accuride
closer to its customers’ expanding footprint in the region.
As part of its aluminum wheel machining investments, Accuride
also installed additional polishing equipment in its Erie and
Monterrey facilities. This new equipment established a higher
standard of enhanced finish for Accuride’s aluminum wheel product
portfolio and increased efficiency and productivity.
According to Scott Hazlett, Senior Vice President and General
Manager, Accuride Wheels, Accuride’s investments were driven by
three strategic objectives:
- Maximizing the use of existing aluminum
wheel production and machining capacity to satisfy customer needs
across the company’s market segments and regions;
- Establishing new capacity in regions
where customer assembly plants are concentrated; and
- Investing in advanced production
processes to achieve higher standards of product quality and
finishing for the company’s aluminum wheel portfolio.
“By strategically managing our existing capacity and investing
in key acquisitions and capacity initiatives, Accuride is
fortifying its status as a leading aluminum wheel supplier to the
North American commercial vehicle industry,” said Hazlett.
“Further, with our proven steel wheel expertise and extensive
product portfolio, we’re able to seamlessly serve as a
single-source supplier for our customers’ aluminum and steel wheel
needs.”
“We plan to make further significant capital investments in
manufacturing equipment, products, and process technologies across
all of our core businesses during 2012 and 2013 in order to
strengthen the value and dependability we offer our customers,”
Dauch added.
About Accuride Corporation
With headquarters in Evansville, Ind., USA, Accuride Corporation
is a leading supplier of components to the commercial vehicle
industry. The company’s products include commercial vehicle wheels,
wheel-end components and assemblies, truck body and chassis parts,
and other commercial vehicle components. The company’s products are
marketed under its brand names, which include Accuride®, Gunite®,
ImperialTM and BrillionTM. Accuride’s common stock trades on the
New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ACW. For more
information, visit the Company’s website at
http://www.accuridecorp.com.
Accuride (NYSE:ACW)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
Accuride (NYSE:ACW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024