MINSTER – Private equity firm Oakland Standard Co. announced the expansion of its iron foundries.
Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics, an iron foundry located in Minster, will operate under Oakland Standard’s specialty metals platform as a second location of The C.A. Lawton Co.
“Since our founding in 1896, our ability to locally source high-quality parts has been extremely important to both our internal product as well as the external customers we serve,” Nidec Minster Corp. Executive Officer David Winch, the present foundry operator, said. “Over that same period, the metal forming industry and especially the foundry business has adapted to many changes. We believe that in today’s market, domestic production of these products and quality standards is best accomplished as a team – increasing available resources to serve customer needs as well as supply chain availability. We are very happy to have found this operational partner in The C.A. Lawton Company.”
Alex Lawton, CEO of the specialty metals platform (includes The C.A. Lawton Co., Temperform, LLC, and Damascus Steel Casting Company), will lead the integration of the businesses and management teams.
“The combination of The C.A. Lawton Co. and Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics creates a unique powerhouse in the gray iron space,” he said. “Together we have literally hundreds of years of history coupled with modern approaches to meeting metal casting needs. Couple that with the rest of the partners on the steel side of our platform and we are indeed crafting the premier supplier-partner where reliability meets flexibility.”
“We are excited to welcome the Minster, Ohio, foundry (formerly Midwest Manufacturing & Logistics) to The C.A. Lawton, Co. family,” said Barry Adamski, president of The C.A. Lawton Co. “Our combined foundry experience of more than 250 years allows us to be a unique supply source and resource to the iron casting industry. We believe that with our forward intention of planet, people and then profit, we can help shape the foundry of the future to better serve our existing, as well as new, customers.”
The Minster facility is a 117-year-old foundry with numerous capabilities in engineering and machining services. It offers gray and ductile castings up to 45,000 pounds, which will nearly double the manufacturing capacity of Lawton. These new abilities will complement the current structure of Lawton. Minster will become the second iron site of The C.A. Lawton Co. offering logistical benefits in a prime manufacturing center.
Founded in 1879 in De Pere, Wisconsin, Lawton is an industry-leading manufacturer of gray-and ductile-iron castings serving the heating, ventilation and air conditioning, mining, water and paper industries, among others. It received the 2020 Outstanding Organization Award from the American Foundry Society. Lawton’s De Pere facility produces castings ranging in size from 400 to 20,000 pounds and provides an end-to-end casting solution, from design and engineering through finishing and machining.
For more information, visit https://calawton.com/.
