Kimura Group expands aluminium casting capabilities with New HQ Plant in Japan

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Kimura Group, a global leader in casting innovation with nearly 100 years of foundry expertise, announced the launch of its Advanced Aluminum HQ Plant at the company's headquarters in Shizuoka, Japan. The new facility, which began operations in February 2026, expands Kimura's capabilities for producing large, thin-wall aluminium castings used in prototype development and small-lot production.

Designed to meet the growing demand for increasingly complex aluminium components in the automotive industry, the facility combines low-pressure sand casting (LPSC), V-Process vacuum moulding, and proprietary heat-treatment technology to deliver production-like material properties while preserving the speed and flexibility of sand casting.

Unlike conventional prototype processes that often require manufacturers to compromise between speed and production-level performance, Kimura's proprietary heat-treatment recipes enable sand castings to achieve material properties similar to high-pressure and low-pressure die cast components. This allows customers to validate designs before investing in permanent tooling, reducing development time, cost, and design risk.

The plant is capable of producing large, thin-wall structural aluminium castings—commonly known as gigacastings (or megacastings)—with minimum wall thicknesses of just 2mm. These capabilities make it well suited for next-generation structural components where lightweight designs and increasingly large castings are becoming standard.

The Advanced Aluminum HQ Plant also features low-pressure casting machines with 200kg and 400kg capacities, a large T6 heat-treatment furnace, and sand mould forming equipment. Kimura is further expanding the facility with a production line for small-lot manufacturing using conventional patterns, providing customers with a seamless path from prototype development through low-volume production.

"This investment reflects Kimura's continued commitment to helping customers accelerate product development without sacrificing quality or performance," said Kentaro Higaki, Executive Vice President, GK of Kimura Foundry Co, Ltd. "Our new aluminium plant combines advanced casting technologies with decades of manufacturing expertise to provide prototype solutions that more closely represent production qualities, and meet modern requirements for large, lightweight parts."

The global aluminium casting usage is expected to reach 24.2 million tonnes in 2026. To know about the future market trends, prebook our upcoming report “Global Aluminium Casting Market 2026-2032”

Note: This article has been taken from PR Newswire and has been published by AL Circle with its original information without any modifications or edits to the core subject/data.