AFS and NADCA Combine Government Affairs Efforts With
New Alliance
Metal Parts Supply Base Seizes Up
Cerion LLC Completes Purchase of Contech
Energy Bill Wins Senate Panel’s Approval, Will Wait
for Floor Action
Democrats Lose Ground in Health Care Debate
About It
Dross Registration Deadline Next Week
Eight Ways to Reduce Costs in the Product Development
and Engineering Cycle
AFS and NADCA Combine Government Affairs Efforts With New Alliance
Schaumburg, Ill…The American Foundry Society (AFS) Board of Directors has approved combining its
federal government affairs services with the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) effective
July 1. The collective effort will entail a coordinated, joint federal advocacy effort while
maintaining each groups status as separate organizations, and will be called the Metalcasters Alliance
for Government Affairs.
The Metalcasters Alliance for Government Affairs will continue to be represented by Waterman &
Associates, a Washington, D.C. firm. The three common issues that Waterman & Associates will continue
to assist with include:
• Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA);
• Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA);
• OSHA Reform.
“We believe the combination of our organizations provides a stronger and more cohesive approach for
delivering our industry’s message in Washington, D.C. For several years now, AFS and NADCA have been
working cooperatively on several projects, including the Government Affairs Conference, research and
the Metalcasting Congress, and look forward to working on more in the future,” said Jerry Call, AFS
executive vice president.
“This is a great opportunity to come together on common issues confronting the metalcasting industry
at the Federal level. NADCA has worked closely with AFS on other efforts and both associations’
memberships have benefited. These are interesting times in Washington D.C. and it will take all
segments metalcasting and manufacturing to work together to inform the leadership on the practical
implications of many of the legislative proposals,” said Daniel L. Twarog, NADCA President.
In addition, a website has been created for the new alliance, disseminating the latest news and
government updates, detailed information on priority issues and important government related links.
The website can be located at www.metalcastinggov.com
For more information on the Metalcasters Alliance for Government Affairs, contact Dave Krugman, AFS PR
and marketing coordinator, at 800/537-4237 x286 or dkrugman@afsinc.org.
Metal Parts Supply Base Seizes Up
According to Tom Stundza, users of metal parts went into a buying funk last summer when the
manufacturing recession bloomed. Purchasing activity fell further this spring when the domestic auto
industry imploded. What's ahead? Buyers say they plan no immediate pickup in bookings. Only 20% of
metallics buyers plan to boost purchasing in the near future. So, less than 9% of the buyers of
castings, forgings and other parts see price increases anytime soon.
The Institute of Supply Management now expects a 22.7% plunge in capital investment for U.S. factories
this year, more than three times worse than its previous projection issued in December of a 6.7%
decline. And, since they have severely downgraded their projections for economic activity and
investment during 2009, metal parts industry executives are adjusting operations and employment to
keep their heads above water and also now are discussing a "leaner supply base" when the pickup in
demand finally occurs.
Durable goods manufacturing should see the brunt of the contraction this year, with a drop of 16.8%,
forecasts economists Tom Runiewicz at the IHS Global Insights offices in Eddystone, Pa. So, early
forecasts suggest an 18% decline in cast metal parts at 10.2 million tons in 2009. When powder metal
parts and forgings are added to the mix, the 12.89 million-ton market will be 31% below the cyclical
peak year of 2007 when sales were 18.59 million tons.
To view the rest of this article,
click here.
Cerion LLC Completes Purchase of Contech
Plymouth, MI – Cerion LLC has completed the purchase of assets of Contech (Portage, MI) out of Chapter
11 reorganization. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Contech Castings LLC will continue to serve the global automotive market with highly-engineered, fully
machined, geometrically complex, lightweight die cast components.
Cerion is a privately-held manufacturing company headquartered in Plymouth focused on acquiring and
operating small and medium-sized precision manufacturing operations. The Contech purchase is Cerion’s
third in the past seven months.
“Cerion is building a manufacturing-oriented business focused on providing customers in a variety of
industries with world-class products and services,” said Cerion LLC CEO Dave Doster. “Contech is
recognized as an industry technology leader and also has the strong customer relationships that Cerion
values.”
Energy Bill Wins Senate Panel’s Approval, Will Wait for Floor Action
A Senate committee voted Wednesday to approve comprehensive energy legislation, with four Republicans
— including the panel’s ranking member — supporting the measure.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee voted 15-8 to approve the draft bill, which would mandate a
sharp increase in electricity generated from renewable sources, open vast new areas of the Gulf of
Mexico to oil and gas drilling and make it easier to site power transmission lines.
The GOP members who voted for the bill were ranking member Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Sam Brownback of
Kansas, Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Bob Corker of Tennessee.
Democrats Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana and Robert Menendez of New Jersey opposed it.
The bipartisan support reflects the compromises engineered during a series of markups by Chairman Jeff
Bingaman , D-N.M., who won over Republicans by adding language to expand offshore drilling and
watering down what was originally a stronger mandate for utilities to use renewable sources of
electricity.
To view the rest of this article,
click here.
Democrats Lose Ground in Health Care Debate
According to Alex Wayne, Senate Democrats have been knocked off balance in their push for a health
care overhaul, stalled by controversy over the plan’s cost, criticism of its limited impact, and the
absence of their leader on the issue, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy .
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Wednesday began writing legislation
intended to solve the problem of the nation’s 46 million uninsured and reduce the growth of health
spending. Ideally, Democrats thought, they would even have some bipartisan support for the bill.
But instead, the session began with withering criticism from Republicans who blasted both the cost
estimates of the bill and the fact it had many incomplete sections.
“When are we going to have cost estimates?” asked Sen. John McCain , R-Ariz. “This is the most
incredible markup I’ve ever been in my entire time at the United States Senate.” McCain called it “a
joke.”
To view the rest of this article,
click here.
Dross Registration Deadline Next Week
All Transporters and shippers of dross are required by the U.S. Department of Transportation to
register. Registered as a handler of hazardous material, businesses can complete the U.S. DoT Pipeline
and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration form online by visiting the website by
clicking here and accessing the online form.
Registration deadline is June 30th, 2009.
Click here to view NADCA’s brief 2.36 minute video on
registration requirements. Avoid potential legal and criminal penalties by following DoT regulations -
click here to watch additional online
video trainings about dross awareness, marking and more.
Eight Ways to Reduce Costs in the Product Development and Engineering Cycle
While severe economic pressures can result in budget cutbacks and personnel layoffs, these changes
fail to produce the organizational, process or product improvements that are necessary for gaining a
competitive advantage. Far too often, they may turn out to be inhibitors of change. In his study of
the obstructions that inhibit the flow of knowledge in an organization, Joseph Kasten of Dowling
College, Oakdale, NY, calls them “rocks in the stream.” “Rocks in the stream” are plentiful when it
comes to meeting the challenge of reducing costs in the product development and engineering cycle. In
spite of mandates from management to cut expenses and speed up the development process, inhibitors or
barriers to success exist. At the same time, useful “tools” are available for helping to remove the
“rocks in the stream.” To read about these eight tools in LINKS magazine,
click here to log in.
