Posts by C.A. Lawton
Specialty Metals HoldCo LLC is changing its name to “The Lawton Standard Co.”
Specialty Metals HoldCo LLC, the parent company of The C.A. Lawton Co., Temperform, Damascus Steel Casting Company, and The C.A. Lawton Co. – Minster, OH (former foundry division of Nidec Minster), and the newly acquired Penn-Mar Castings is changing its name to The Lawton Standard Co. Alex Lawton, CEO of The Lawton Standard Co., says,…
Read MoreLawton named the first-ever foundry to achieve Green Tier 2 status
The C.A. Lawton Co. is proud to announce they have achieved Green Tier 2 status by the Wisconsin DNR. Compared to Green Tier 1, Tier 2 involves more rigorous participation requirements, emphasizing superior environmental performance. Lawton is the first foundry ever to achieve this level of sustainability. The C.A. Lawton Co. began its Green Tier…
Read MoreSustainability Series: Recycled Metals
Foundries have been setting high standards for recycling and inspiring other industries to adapt to their level of sustainability. For centuries, foundries have been making new metal objects by remelting old ones. For example, the oldest existing casting is a copper frog made in Mesopotamia dating back to 3200 B.C. Metalcasting facilities recycle more than…
Read MoreToolbox Talks: What are they?
Toolbox Talks are the new method of communication for employees at the C.A. Lawton Co. Each week, a handout is designed and posted by our compliance coordinator, Katherine Jungwirth. This handout is specifically created to freshen everyone’s memory and remind them of specific safety precautions. Lawton’s team digs deep when designing these Toolbox Talks because…
Read MoreWomen in the Foundry
In honor of Women’s History Month, we’d like to highlight a couple of fantastic women who work here at Lawton. Here are a few highlights from a previous interview. First, meet Dani. Before working at Lawton, she attended school for a year but found that she preferred more hands-on work. This led her to become…
Read MoreSustainability Series: Recycled Foundry Sand
One of the main components required to produce a casting is the sand used to make the mold. In fact, industry estimates that approximately 100 million tons of sand are used in production annually. Of that, four to seven million tons are discarded and are available to be used in other manufacturing practices and industries.…
Read MoreLawton’s continuous transformation
An organization that is committed to continuous improvement needs a visual plan that gets and keeps everyone going in the same direction. At The C.A. Lawton Co., that plan is the transformation calendar. It’s a key tool the company uses to manage its commitment to continuous improvement and strategy deployment. The first step is to…
Read MoreLawton uses EBI Lites for quick and easy kaizen
Lawton’s EBI Lite program carries on the tradition of quick and easy kaizen, empowering our workers to seek out and make incremental improvements to their work areas. According to Barry Adamski, EBI Lite may be the most critical path to a better future for the five-generation, family-owned foundry: “We believe each person has unlimited creative…
Read MorePenn-Mar Castings joins The C.A. Lawton Co. family
The C.A. Lawton Co. welcomes Hanover, PA facility as a third iron foundry location Birmingham, MI – Private equity firm, Oakland Standard Co., is proud to announce the expansion of its specialty metals platform and specifically the iron foundry group. Penn-Mar Castings, a gray-and-ductile iron foundry located in Hanover, Pennsylvania, will operate as the third…
Read MoreHow to reduce the cost of your casting
A lack of casting knowledge is at the root of nearly every cost driver for large castings. To complicate matters, even if you have general knowledge or experience in casting, every foundry uses different processes. What works to reduce cost in one operation can drive the cost up in another. Even if you have general…
Read MoreEXPERT’S OPINION: The industry is on the cusp of a wonderful new era
The C.A. Lawton Co. periodically publishes input from professionals both within the foundry industry and outside the casting world. These Expert Opinions may be casting related, Continuous Improvement (CI / LEAN), Operational Excellence (Op-Ex), or just working through the challenges of today’s business environment. The goal is to present you with differing viewpoints of how…
Read MoreWhich industries need castings?
Metal casters can develop complex shapes in many sizes using various materials with unique properties that serve many purposes. That’s why metal castings are vital to many key industries such as agriculture, automotive, and mining. Without castings, these industries and their role in our everyday lives wouldn’t be the same. Agriculture “Agriculture is the world’s…
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