Permanent Mold Aluminum Casting Business Making a Comeback!
Many companies in the manufacturing business have seen a large recovery in sales in the last few months after "The Great Recession". Fortunately so has Alcast Company’s aluminum foundry! In fact April 2010 our sales were 141% higher than April 2009 due to substantial recovery from most of our customers. We are currently expecting an upward trend in sales throughout the year with a great outlook for the future!
Our aluminum foundry has seen the most significant recoveries in our cast aluminum torque converter sales and cast aluminum hydrostatic transmission valve body sales. In fact we were recently awarded a new hydrostatic transmission valve body that could generate another $500,000 or more in sales revenue. Caterpillar torque converter aluminum casting sales were also up 86% YTD for 2010. Recoveries from these and many of our other customers has lead to our YTD sales being 56% higher for 2010 than they were in 2009.
You may remember from our Alcast Company’s Aluminum Foundry Stands Strong Article that we stated "During The Great Recession we are not sitting by and waiting for the storm to pass. We are actively improving our company to ensure we come out of this decline as soon as possible, and stronger than ever! We are investing in expanding our capabilities, optimizing the efficiency of our processes, and improving safety." Our Aluminum Foundry did just that, we took advantage of the "bad" times where we could and came out as a stronger company. There are several examples of this such as our YTD costs being down 11% in 2010 compared to 2009 which is due partially to improvements in the efficiency of our processes. Our safety record has also been excellent, our NAICS experience mod is at .71 and is excellent for an aluminum foundry, and this helps us keep our operating costs down. We have also gained many new opportunities from our strategic alliance with Stahl Specialty Company which are sure to help our company grow.
Alcast Company has also been able to bring in some new work and find opportunities for future customers and castings. For example we have recently been awarded two aluminum castings from a new customer used in automotive suspensions.
Over all April 2010 performance was reasonably profitable after "The Great Recession" and we are confident that future months will show profitability based upon current customer projections. Sales forecasts continue to improve and we have managed to get our aluminum casting inventory at a reasonable level based upon our current sales volume. We have been a strong and successful aluminum foundry in the past and will continue to be in the future also!