GENERAL PRODUCTS MANAGES
CASTING SUPPLY FOR GROWTH
The machine shop forecasts a positive growth pattern
for the foreseeable future. The only thing left is to find the metalcasters it needs to grow with it.
G “
SHEA GIBBS, MANAGING EDITOR
eneral Products Corp., Livonia, Mich., loves castings. Its management fears losing casting work to low-cost countries, worries about the consolidation of the metal- casting industry and believes surcharges are a necessary evil perpetuated by the country’s largest OEMs. If it weren’t for the fact that it didn’t pour a single
casting, General Products would be a lot like a met- alcasting facility. As it is, the company is a machine shop that re- quires metalcasting facilities to deliver the products
its customers need: 100% of the machined parts that leave General Products’ fa- cilities in Russelville, Ky., San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and Angola, Ind., are castings. “We rely on metalcasters,” said Steve Maroney, vice president of sales. “Tey
can help us or hurt us.” And with 400% growth forecast over the next four years and a recent expansion into Mexico, General Products is expecting metalcasting companies to help them a lot more than they hurt them in the near future. “One of the big hurdles as a sales group is getting casting companies inter-
ested,” said Joseph Newby, advanced process engineering manager. “Te lack of capacity from metalcasters has grown exponentially in the last two years. Tere’s been so much activity.”
Some metalcasters add metal to eliminate shrink. That is detrimental to a machine shop. They pay to put it on, and we pay to take it off.” —JOSEPH NEWBY
26 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Nov/Dec 2011 Mexico and Beyond
On Aug. 16, General Products announced it was launching a new machining facility in San Luis Po- tosi, Mexico. According to Newby, the move
made sense because one of its largest established customers had an existing framework in Mexico, and several of its existing metalcasting suppliers have infrastructure in place in the country. General Products couldn’t handle the customer’s Mexico-based orders at its existing facilities, so the capacity was already sold when the machinist moved across the border. “Strategically, we don’t carry capac-
ity,” Maroney said. “We don’t add capacity without an equivalent com- mitment from the customer.” Te company is now working with
two of its preferred metalcasting facili- ties with a presence in Mexico to fulfill its casting needs. “We are a perfect match [with two
facilities] to take advantage of the growing need down there,” Newby said. “Tere is a gap in the market, and no one has the appetite to put machin- ing assets on the floor.” By this time next year, General
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