Foundries that supply the automotive sector to close

Grede Holdings LLC, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, plans to close its foundry in Columbiana, Alabama, according to an article on the Foundry Management & Technology website that cites a  Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice that was filed June 9 with the Alabama Department of Commerce.

According to the WARN notice, 94 employees will be affected by the closing, which is planned for Aug. 10.

Foundry Management & Technology cites a statement from Grede CEO Cary Wood that attributes the decision to "… market conditions, including the COVID-19 pandemic."

Wood also says in the statement that the foundry's employees “were given the opportunity to apply for open positions at other Grede facilities,” according to the article.

Foundry Management & Technology notes that the Columbiana foundry marks the shutdown of the third ferrous foundry that supplies the commercial-vehicle market to be announced in the second quarter of this year.

In June, Grede announced it had acquired the book of business from the Renaissance Manufacturing Group Waukesha LLC in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and would close that facility this summer, affecting more than 100 employees. Grede told the Milwaukee Business Journal that it plans to relocate the workers at the facility to other foundries within its network.

Grede, which is owned by Gamut Capital Management, operates 10 foundries in North America, including the Alabama plant to be shuttered, with approximately 3,800 employees, according to the company’s websites. Its other foundries are in Biscoe, North Carolina; Brewton, Alabama; Browntown, Liberty and Reedsburg Wisconsin; Iron Mountain, Michigan; New Castle, Indiana; and St. Cloud, Minnesota. The company’s machine locations are in Biscoe and in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

Additionally, Waupaca Foundry announced plans in late May to close its Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, ductile iron foundry in August. Nearly 150 hourly and 50 salaried positions will be eliminated. “The closure is an alignment of manufacturing operations in the United States and is a result of capacity that exceeds demand in the supply chain,” the company says in a press release announcing the closure.

The Lawrenceville plant produces automotive suspension components, including steering knuckles, control arms and brackets for original equipment manufacturers. Parts produced at the Lawrenceville foundry will move to other Waupaca Foundry plants and will continue to be machined and assembled at the Effingham, Illinois, location, the company says.

"It's critical that we stay in front of changing market conditions and customer demand for long-term sustainability," Waupaca Foundry President, COO and CEO Mike Nikolai says. "Our ability to remain flexible in an evolving marketplace will continue to create opportunity for our employees and customers.

"Waupaca Foundry explored multiple alternatives to closing the plant—none of which were viable," says Vice President of Operations Rick Sutton. "The global pandemic heightened the need to find solutions to better serve our customers."

Waupaca operates seven iron foundries with 1.5 million tons of capacity, as well as three machining and casting finishing operations in the United States.