entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and emerged in 2010 with a new capital structure and new initiative to recover from the recession. It was shortly after this new structure that Dauch was brought on board to grow the company. Before the company went global,
however, Dauch and Accuride launched a “Fix & Grow” strategy to make the corporation profitable and competitive in the marketplace. Part of this new strategy has been to sell off its noncore assets. Accuride had sold Bostrom (a truck seating manufacturer) the day before Dauch arrived. Within 18 months, Imperial (a stamping business) and Fabco (axle manufacturing) also were sold so Accuride could reinvest the proceeds in fixing its core business. Tis left Accuride Wheels, which consists of several plants and locations, Brillion Iron Works and Gunite. Accuride Wheels, which manufac-
tures steel and aluminum wheels, was the backbone of the organization with more than half of its total revenues. Were the metalcasting facilities also
as drums, hubs, rotors and slack adjusters, occurred before he took the job, and it was an eye-opener. Te roof needed major repair. Production layout was disorganized. Machinery was old and inefficient. “It was the single worst factory
I had visited in the world,” Dauch said. “Te workforce was depressed.” It would need considerable in-
The development of the Gunite Silver series brake drum was benefited by the company’s vertical integration and col- laboration across processes.
vestment to turn it into the quality manufacturing facility necessary to help Accuride grow into a global company. But Dauch and the board of directors determined it was necessary to have an in-house cast- ing and machining facility because
core to Accuride?
Staying Vertical Dauch’s first visit to the Gunite fa-
cility, which included iron casting, ma- chining and assembly operations that produce finished components such
these were core components of the company’s wheel end system strategy. Gunite was an established name in the wheel end market with a reputation for quality parts, despite the run-down facilities in Rockford. In the wheel and brake drum
business, quality and weight savings are key factors in being competitive. Te casting process, casting design and machining setup are integral to achieving both factors. Accuride saw
The Gunite facility in Rockford, Ill., installed a brand new cell for assembling slack adjusters used in braking. 24 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Mar/Apr 2015
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