TRAVERSE CITY, MI - Volkswagen's Think Blue Factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., will serve as the blueprint for all new plants worldwide and has become a benchmark for environmental efficiency for all existing plants. This was the key message of Dr. Jan Spies, Volkswagen AG head of factory planning, at the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminar in Traverse City, Mich., today. Spies noted…

Steel-maker A. Finkl & Sons Co. is inching closer to completing its move to the South Side. Bruce Liimatainen, Finkl's chairman and chief executive, said the move to 1355 E. 93rd St. is about 60 percent complete. The goal, he said, is to wrap up the move by the end of the year. The new steel factory is equipped with the latest technology, improved production lines and better access to transportation and has…

Reuters reported that aluminum has become the in vogue defensive play amid the broader sell off across the LME metals markets. This is partly due to the fact that there was less speculative premium built into the light metal than say copper. It also reflects the unwinding and reversal of previous long copper and short Aluminum trading strategies, a trend that appreciably accelerated last week. As of close…

Handtmann, strategischer Systempartner für die Automobilindustrie im Aluminium- und Magnesiumguss, startet ab 2022 die hauseigene Serienproduktion von Invertergehäusen für Elektrofahrzeuge. Hierfür liefert Automatisierungsspezialist Grenzebach die entsprechende Anlagentechnik für das Rührreibschweißen (FSW) inklusive Vorserien-Begleitung des Bauteils sowie Lieferung und Integration der passenden…

voestalpine has announced operating result for the first half of the business year 2011. Highlights: Revenue grows to EUR 5,978 million, up by 15.1% YoY EBITDA increases from EUR 710 million to EUR 824 million EBIT rises by 28.3% from EUR 414 million to EUR 531 million EBIT margin improves from 8.0% to 8.9% Profit climbs by 39% from EUR 250 million to EUR 346 million Overall work force again at the pre…

The multi-institutional "econnect Germany" initiative has been named a collaborative flagship project by Germany's Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). Thus, as part of an initiative to support interdisciplinary research in the field of Information and Communications Technology in Electric Mobility, it now receives funding from the BMWi. Under the coordination of the Chair of Information Systems and…

Immer mehr Gießereien stehen vor der Herausforderung, Emissionen zu vermeiden, ohne dabei Zugeständnisse an Werkstoffeigenschaften, die Produktivität oder die wirtschaftliche Effizienz zu machen. Die Gründe für diese Notwendigkeit sind vielfältig. Behördliche Auflagen zur Reinhaltung der Luft und des Arbeitsplatzes sowie Beschwerden des Umfelds – z. B. der Nachbarn – sind dabei die wesentlichen Treiber für…

The "Lost Core" technology opens up diverse opportunities. With this technology certain parts of the component to be cast are recessed with a salt core which is then rinsed out again. This makes it possible for permanent mold cast and sand cast components to be replaced and at the same time the full benefits of die casting such as material savings, shorter cycle times and reduced post-processing can be…

Member of Imerys Group, the world leader in industrial minerals, IFME supplies the foundry industry with high performance minerals and innovative solutions for investment casting (flours and stuccos), special sands for sand casting (mould and core), refractory fillers for foundry coatings and any other application in the moulding and casting process. IFME’s partners have a long experience in mining and…

Essar Steel has been awarded the ‘Platinum Award’, the highest award in the category by Caterpillar's 'Supplier Quality Excellence Program'. Essar Steel had previously won the bronze award in 2008 followed by the Gold Award for two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010, it finally bagged the Platinum Award - the highest award in the category. Caterpillar’s SQEP certification recognizes Essar Steel’s…