Released on October 24, 2008

After two years during which it improved its melting department, core room, inspection lab and reclamation equipment, Century Pacific Foundry Ltd., Surrey, Canada, is now planning to construct a new nobake loop in its ferrous metalcasting facility.

“We’ve always believed in stockpiling cash and, when we have it, reinvesting it,” said Eric Hasselmann, a Century spokesperson.

The company, which makes annual sales of about $13 million, currently is “working on the preliminaries” of the new line, as well as an office building expansion. According to Hasselmann, the company’s expansion and growth in recent years primarily has been a result of diversifying its metal offerings.

“We’ve expanded our markets,” he said. “We were just a cast iron shop; then we moved into ductile. Then we got into the low alloy steels and mild steel. Now we’re into exotics and high strength steels.”

Working out of 55,000-sq.-ft. of manufacturing space with about 70 employees, Century serves a variety of markets, but its primary end-use customers are in the oil industry. The new material offerings have allowed the company to expand its relationships within that market segment.

“We use to make just pump jack gears, but now we [make products for] the extraction and excavation of oil, as well,” Hasselmann said.

In response to the company’s growth, Century has significantly upped its melt production in the past two years with the addition of a third 2,000-lb. furnace and crane magnets for scrap reclamation. It is currently in the process of quoting and ordering components for the installation of a fourth furnace of equivalent size.

Within the past six months, Century installed a new 50-lb. core blower and a new spectrometer. Most recently, Century commissioned a 5 ton/hour reclamation unit, which is capable of reclaiming 10 tons of material per hour. In addition, the company has added pattern storage and elevated its plant security.