INDUSTRY NEWS
Applied Process to Maintain Relationship With AP Suzhou Applied Process Inc., Livonia,
Mich., said it will continue to provide technical support to its China-based austempered ductile iron (ADI) licens- ees Austemper Suzhou and Austemper Jilin, which it recently sold to two minority partners. Te sale of the companies to David
Chang, president, and Andy Chen, vice president, was announced in January. Te combined facilities offer three austempering lines for commer- cial processing, and the new owners expect to increase capacity to address increased demand. “Our licensee-partners in China
have a long, well-established track record running manufacturing and technical representation businesses in China,” said John Keough, chief execu- tive officer of Applied Process Inc.- Technologies Div. “Teir contacts and relationships with both privately held and government owned businesses allow them to identify and address op- portunities for growth.” Austemper Suzhou and Austemper
Jilin’s customers are in several mar- kets, including heavy truck and bus, miscellaneous machinery, agricultural machinery, turf care, construction machinery and railroad. “A primary market for ADI is in
heavy truck suspensions,” Keough said. “In a good year in North America, we produce 300,000 heavy duty trucks. A good year in China can be more than 600,000 heavy trucks. In the U.S., nearly every heavy duty truck employs ADI components in the chassis and suspension. In China, only a fraction of the trucks currently employ ADI, using, instead, steel weldments or steel assemblies. Te opportunity for ADI conversions in this segment of the Chinese market is huge.” Te new owners also own Shanghai
Powermax, which produces austemper- ing equipment under technical license to AFC-Holcroft. Applied Process indicated it will continue to work closely with Austemper Suzhou and Austemper Jilin. “Similar to here in the U.S., in the
early days of commercial ductile iron production, the quality of ductile iron
May 2012 MODERN CASTING | 11
manufactured in China can range from world-class to third-world,” Keough said. “By introducing our advanced equipment and processing technologies in the Chinese market, we are able to work with the high- est quality producers to develop
high-performance ADI components primarily for the domestic market but for export as well. While it is hard to get exact numbers for ADI produc- tion in China, it is estimated to exceed 100,000 tons with double digit annual growth forecast.”
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