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Cardinal Aluminum says brings new extrusion press online
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
2 min read
Cardinal Aluminum has started up a new extrusion press that is expected to boost capacity at the company's manufacturing complex in Louisville, Kentucky, Cardinal's owner, Chip Edwards, said in an interview.
The newly completed project leaves Cardinal with one press in each of its two plants at the Louisville complex -- the new 2,350 st press and an 1,800 st press.
Two older and smaller 1,250 st presses are being replaced.
"The (new) presses are much larger and much faster and have specific pressure and there's a lot of productivity enhancement," Edwards said Thursday. As a result, the company's tonnage is expected to "increase considerably," he said, although he did not offer a specific forecast for 2012. Edwards said Cardinal is "very encouraged" about business this year.
"We have picked up some business as a result of the Chinese duties. We're cautiously optimistic," he said. "One of the things we decided to do back in 2004 was we wanted to run with shorter backlogs. We wanted to make sure we had a good service level. You have to trust that business is going to come in... ."
Overall, a reduction in press capacity in the US in the past four or five years "in combination with minor but clear improvement in manufacturing in the US has led markets to be a little bit better," Edwards added. The work force also is somewhat larger at Cardinal, with employment totaling 400 people. --Bob Matyi,
The newly completed project leaves Cardinal with one press in each of its two plants at the Louisville complex -- the new 2,350 st press and an 1,800 st press.
Two older and smaller 1,250 st presses are being replaced.
"The (new) presses are much larger and much faster and have specific pressure and there's a lot of productivity enhancement," Edwards said Thursday. As a result, the company's tonnage is expected to "increase considerably," he said, although he did not offer a specific forecast for 2012. Edwards said Cardinal is "very encouraged" about business this year.
"We have picked up some business as a result of the Chinese duties. We're cautiously optimistic," he said. "One of the things we decided to do back in 2004 was we wanted to run with shorter backlogs. We wanted to make sure we had a good service level. You have to trust that business is going to come in... ."
Overall, a reduction in press capacity in the US in the past four or five years "in combination with minor but clear improvement in manufacturing in the US has led markets to be a little bit better," Edwards added. The work force also is somewhat larger at Cardinal, with employment totaling 400 people. --Bob Matyi,
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