The Cambridge Division of Pace Industries continued its history of winning awards at the NADCA International Die Casting Design Competition.  In fact, it was just two years ago when we last won an award at this very competition.  Check back in our blog archives for our January 14^th, 2016 blog to learn more about that story.

This year, Cambridge won the Aluminum under 1 lb. division, with a Mid – Housing for L3 Technologies.  This is the main housing for a Next Gen Aiming Laser to be placed on many weapons for the U.S. military, to pair with all generations of night vision devices. The Cambridge team was given a tough task in replacing a piece that was previously conceived in plastic, that now needed to be cast in aluminum.  We designed a part that would not add weight, but significantly increase the structural integrity on the part.  Not only did we succeed, but we exceeded all expectations creating a part with walls less than 0.05” thick, yet with tremendous detail and durability.

The Cambridge division was excited to partner with L3 Technologies on this project.  Through many hours of discussions and brain storming sessions, together we designed a part that both Pace and L3 Technologies were proud to be producing. Keith Liadis of L3 Technologies said this about Pace, “It was a great experience working with the Pace team on this project, Pace certainly deserves the accolades.” Cambridge was able to showcase their full-service abilities on this part, providing everything from early supplier involvement, die casting, machining, anodizing, assembling and part packaging to be delivered to L3 Technologies.  We always strive to be the highest quality supplier to our customers and this is an example of the processes that we can perform.

Cambridge Division excels in serving niche and specialty markets, by expertly producing difficult die castings and providing exemplary project management and engineering support.  In addition, Cambridge’s value-added services includes a spectrum of capabilities including, in-house assembly, machining, finishing, and creating a total solution provider.  Situated just outside of Boston, the Cambridge Division is prepared to serve the innovative customers and countless startups in the area and all over the world.

For the past 45 years, the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) has sponsored the International Die Casting Design Competition where they recognize, reward and publicize the outstanding casting designs of the year.  This annual competition provides a competitive environment where submitted parts are judged on four equally weighted criteria, ingenuity of casting/product design, overall quality, cost savings and market-expanding potential.  The competition is broken down into several categories by both weight of castings and material used.

Pace Industries is no stranger to this competition, in the past 10 years, 6 divisions of Pace Industries have brought home a collective 12 awards. Pace has shown its expertise, by taking home awards in multiple different material and size divisions of the competition.  This year we are proud to announce that we have yet again brought home 2 awards from 2 of our divisions.

We are excited to celebrate with the Grafton Division on their winning part for the Aluminum casting 10lbs and up division.  The Grafton Division submitted a part cast out of 413 aluminum as their 2017 choice, the 44 lb. LED Light Fixture for Cree, Inc. This part was designed to increase the illuminated area by adding extra LED’s into the larger housing. What makes this light excellent is that the part not only maximizes its size, but also minimizes wind load requirements and reducing the overall part weight, helping to make the installation process much easier.  This part delivers many benefits such as reducing energy requirements, reduced maintenance cost and easier installs, allowing for rapid return on investments.

We are proud to partner with Cree, Inc. on the casting of this challenging part.  We know that our success ultimately comes when our customers succeed, and this part is truly raising the industry standard, and we are excited to be part of that.  Lisa Ruffalo from Cree, Inc. had this to say about her experience working with Pace on this project, “I was very impressed with Pace, it was a challenge to find a die caster who was able to produce a part this large but who could also produce a part with such detail.”  She went on to say “the software and mold flow analysis they used was outstanding, and they were constantly supportive and present through the entire process.”

The Grafton Division is an industry leader in complex high pressure die castings primarily for customers in the automotive, lighting, large and small engine industries.  Grafton can provide many value added services in house including machining, painting, polishing testing and assembly to name a few. Pace Industries is committed to providing uncommon solutions that contribute to the success of our customers.

Pace Industries announces the recent leadership changes at the Airo and Harrison Divisions. These divisions are cornerstones of the Pace network that consists of 12 divisions, 21 facilities and over 3,500 associates across the U.S. and Mexico. Pace Industries is North America’s largest aluminum die casting company and also provides magnesium, zinc high pressure die casting, and plastic injection molding.

Effective immediately, Marshall Haines, division president of Airo Division for the last 2 years will be transferring to the Harrison Division, located in Harrison, Arkansas, to serve as their new division president. Haines has had multiple leadership roles for Pace Industries since joining the team 12 years ago, ranging from division president to being the pioneer of the current purchasing department where he served as the VP of Purchasing. In his time at Airo, Haines continued to build on the tradition of excellence and performance at Airo. Most recently, that division supported a major customer launch of a new engine platform, the first major change in the engine for that customer in many years.  Haines continued to develop his team and supported them too, while returning the highest and most successful performance levels in the last 10 years.

As Haines leaves for Harrison, Mike McDoniel, a 20-year Pace veteran, will be filling the position of division president of the Airo Division, located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Mike has served in multiple capacities for Pace, ranging from division president of our B&C Division, sales and account management for our largest customers, and VP of Purchasing. Mike recently helped to further foster the growth of the purchasing department that was started by his predecessor, Haines. The hard work and contributions made by them to the purchasing department has provided a solid foundation as a crucial department of Pace Industries, helping to save millions of dollars for the company over the past few years.

About Pace Industries

Pace Industries is North America’s leading full-service aluminum, zinc and magnesium die casting company. Pace is a solution provider, offering a wide array of capabilities and services, including: advanced engineering, tool making, prototyping, precision machining, assembly, finishing and painting. Headquartered in Fayetteville, Ark., Pace operates 12 divisions, 21 manufacturing facilities and has more than 4,000 associates across the U.S. and Mexico.

On June 7^th, Pace Industries attended the Upper Midwest Design2Part Show in Minneapolis, MN.  The Design2Part Shows are a collection of trade shows that specialize in connecting engineers, product designers and manufacturers to some of the country’s top suppliers of custom components, parts and manufacturing services.  This event was one of the 11 shows that will be put on this year all around the US.

The team from Pace Industries provided 50 years of experience in industry sales and product engineering and design which showcased the breadth of our company. The divisions represented all the materials Pace Industries specializes in, making Pace one of the most diversified suppliers there.  We had Sales Managers from our Minnesota-based locations of St. Paul Division, specializing in Aluminum Die Casting and the Product Tech Division, which specializes in Magnesium Die Casting. The team also included Sales Management from the Arkansas-based B&C Division, one of our two Zinc Die Casting facilities, and Port City Custom Plastics, our only Plastic Injection Molding division located in Muskegon, Michigan.

This annual show is a favorite of Pace Industries and attracts potential customers Pace is eager to work alongside.  We visited with folks from a cross section of industries such as; Medical Devices, Lighting & Electrical Components, Meters & Industrial Controls, and Lawn & Garden. Pace has decades of manufacturing experience, product development and design expertise to serve these and other industries so it was a great opportunity to see new and exciting products.  Product Tech Sales Manager, Jim Hegland, had this to say about the show, “I feel this show captures more of the type of engineer who we like to meet. People who are designing new parts and are out searching for new ideas.”  Our sales managers came to the show with a desire to reach new markets and meet new potential customers.  David McWilliams from B&C, spoke on how the team worked together, “We have a great team, with knowledgeable people from Aluminum, Magnesium, Zinc and Plastics, we were able to provide information to the visitors that guided their initial material decisions (whether it be aluminum, zinc, magnesium, or plastic) which in turn helped all of our businesses.”  Our sales managers walked away with many good qualified leads, while also laying a foundation with several new potential customers.  Hegland said it best, “The way I look at it, if you get one deal out of a show like this, it was a home run” looks like Pace may have hit a Grand Slam.

Please check out Pace Industries’ booth at these upcoming Design2Part shows in Marlboro, MA (September 27^th – 28^th) and San Diego, CA (November 15^th – 16^th).

If you would like more information on how these divisions could further serve your needs, you can learn more about each division below.

In training our suppliers about Pace Industries and our die casting capabilities, we begin the process of Early Supplier Involvement. As we’ve discussed in earlier blogs, Early Supplier Involvement is where our greatest opportunity lies and allows us to work with our customers to find uncommon, creative solutions.

Pace’s St. Paul Division, which produces aluminum die castings for highly cosmetic, complex and difficult-to-fill parts and specializes in flash-free, net-shape production, has become a shining example of this practice. The St. Paul team recently visited GHSP, a leading global supplier of mechanical and mechatronic control systems to surface transportation industries, and held a Lunch and Learn in an effort to educate on zinc and aluminum die casting.

Not only were they able to discuss services, capabilities and processes, but were able to showcase some of the parts St. Paul had die cast for GHSP for the 2015 Ford Mustang. These parts were recently featured in this Detroit Muscle episode on Power Nation TV.

The benefits of the Lunch and Learn were being able to teach and familiarize GHSP’s purchasing team, engineering team and quality team with die casting, the processes involved and the tolerance involved. The results were positive from all teams who felt the meeting allowed them to view Pace as an advisor on future opportunities and gave them a direct contact to follow up and ask questions.
“By establishing a contact, it shortens that bridge in order to have the conversation with somebody. They are more likely to pick up the phone and call you if they’ve met you.”
— Darren Bombich, Sales Manager / Sales Engineer
When conducting your own Lunch and Learns, it’s important to know who your audience is so you can flavor the presentation towards that group of people – an engineering group loves data and very technical information, while a purchasing audience requires less details and more of a bigger picture. Take the time to truly understand your audience and tailor the presentation to them.

We are pleased to announce that the North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) has awarded Pace Industries with four honors this past year. This is a prestigious international competition that brings the best designs in die casting together. Each is judged on the difficulty to cast, the brilliant engineering required and the benefit and value that the design delivers to the customer.

The Cambridge Division won the 2015 International Die Cast Competition for Aluminum Die Castings 1 to 10 lbs for the submission of the JAMCO arm rest. This was an extremely difficult part to design as a die casting. Full credit must be given to Don Tremblay for the excellent design engineering. Don worked tirelessly with the customer, establishing confidence in Cambridge’s engineering prowess and convincing them of the design changes required to make this a successful conversion to a die casting. The overall success of this program extends to our total Engineering and Manufacturing group. Working as a true team, focused on the success of the project, we delivered excellence to our customer and delighted them with our performance.

Our St. Paul Division took second place for this category with its Diffuser Grilles. The amount of detail, looking at a market that normally doesn’t have die casting in it, was particularly impressive to the judges. They also noted how well executed it was for the St. Paul Division to take a bunch of different parts and integrate them into one usable part.

Grafton was awarded the 2015 International Die Cast Competition for Aluminum Die Castings over 10 lbs category for the 824 Crankcase. Beau Glim, Project Manager at NADCA, stated that what made an impression on the judges was the jet cooling. It is something that is typically very difficult to cool so to see it cool that quickly for die casting was an amazing feat that resulted in this award.

The Product Tech Division won the 2015 Casting Competition for Magnesium Die Castings over .5 lbs category for the Multispeed Wheel. The judges found the wheel to be very innovative. They were impressed by the detail, the control, and the very unique application for die casting that was demonstrated by the Product Tech Division.

At Pace, it’s our people who make the difference – who help differentiate our organization from the competition. So, as Dan Krinock transitions from president of our Airo Division in Loyalhanna, Penn. to a consultant for Pace leadership on special projects, we’re using this space to celebrate the man who dedicated nearly four decades of his life to the die casting industry and our Airo Division. After all, it would be difficult to tell the Pace story without feeling Dan’s influence.

“The early growth and success of Airo Die Casting was greatly influenced by Dan’s relentless search for the next innovative management trend,” said Scott Bull, CEO, Pace. “Dan has always embraced change, and this led Airo to become one of the most versatile and valuable divisions in the Pace family.”

“Dan always had a vision of what the next step should be and was able to communicate that vision – from the operator on the floor to the leadership of the company,” said Vinnie Battaglia, who worked side by side with Dan for the majority of his nearly 40 years at Airo.

Dan’s ability to innovate and lead has always been among his greatest traits. In 1976, he helped establish an identity for Airo as one of just two die casting facilities in North America capable of manufacturing blades for the gaseous diffusion industry. By the following decade, the Loyalhanna-based facility had evolved into a leader in the casting of conversion boxes for the booming cable television industry. In the late 1990s to early 2000s, he orchestrated the implementation to robotic technology, a central melt system and the facility’s first reciprocator. Under Dan’s leadership, Airo has emerged today as a 155,400-square-foot manufacturing facility with a full range of services and capabilities for the automotive, motorcycle, recreational vehicle and heatsink technology industries.

“I’ve worked with Dan for over 20 years and his focus has remained consistent from the beginning,” said Jeff Wareham, quality manager, Airo. “He always says, ‘If we aren’t improving, we’re going backward.’ He’s never satisfied with just doing what we’ve always done.”

It’s that approach that helped earn Airo the top Jobs First Governor’s ImPAct Award in June 2014. The award ­­– presented annually by the governor of Pennsylvania – recognizes businesses across the state that have made a positive impact on local and state economies through consistent job growth, associate retention and development.

Dan made a habit of extending that level of passion and enthusiasm beyond the walls of Airo and into the surrounding community.

“Dan was one of the first people I met when I became president of the area chamber of commerce – and he’s always been one who just makes things happen,” said David Martin, president, Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Community Chamber of Commerce. “He’s always there, helping improve quality of life and working to create opportunity.

“He has a passion for local workforce development,” Martin explained. “Dan went as far as to help coordinate partnerships between local manufacturers and schools. His thought was, if there are kids who aren’t going to four-year universities, we want to make sure they have a trade coming out of high school. These kids could stay local, work local and make careers for themselves.”

That’s the level of commitment Dan used to blaze a trail of success.

“Dan continually reinvented the mindset of his team and the community around him to deliver success,” said Rod Taylor, COO, Pace. “He has a way of finding new thinking to drive results. He’s always learning and that serves as a great reminder to all of us.”

As Dan transitions into his new role as consultant to Pace leadership on special projects – and eventually into retirement – he’ll be doing more fishing, golfing, and spending quality time with family. And, he’ll be the first to tell you, it’s time to ramp up the number of outings with his hunting buddy, his grandson.

Thank you for a job well done, Dan, and enjoy this time of transition. You’ve earned it.

We are excited to welcome Port City Division to the Pace family. Together we look forward to working together to take advantage of all the best practices and synergies to help stay at the forefront of the industry and continue to provide uncommon, creative solutions which contribute to the success of our customers.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., and MUSKEGON, Mich., July 1, 2015 – Pace Industries, North America’s largest full-service aluminum, zinc and magnesium die casting company based in Fayetteville, Ark., announces the merger with Port City Division in Muskegon, Mich. The merger will provide die casting, machining, manufacturing and finishing capabilities across diverse industries including automotive, lighting, electrical, recreational and others.

The combined company will consist of 12 divisions and 21 facilities with sales of approximately $600 million across the United States and Mexico.

Pace Industries President and CEO Scott Bull said, “Blending the strengths of Pace and Port City Division will result in a formidable automotive supplier and preferred non-automotive supplier in the die casting industry and build our capabilities to deliver better quality, service and value to customers.”

Port City Division will become a division of Pace Industries. John Essex will remain CEO of Port City Division, join the Pace Board of Directors, and become one of its largest shareholders while leading Pace’s automotive growth strategy.

Essex said, “Over the last few years, it became apparent that we needed a platform for our growth that would provide us greater geographical reach than what we had with our Michigan-based facilities. This merger will provide needed capacity in closer proximity to some of our customers in North America while expanding our production capability.”

According to Bull, the companies will work together to take full advantage of best practices and synergies, which will provide both organizations the capabilities and resources to meet and exceed customer expectations.