Cutting Edge Technology is Expected to Increase IBC’s Daily Melt Capacity of Beryllium-Aluminum Products by 25%
FRANKLIN, IN (May 15, 2017) – IBC Advanced Alloys Corp.a leading beryllium and copper alloys company, announces today that it has completed the installation of a new Vacuum Induction Melting (“VIM”) furnace in its Wilmington, MA manufacturing facility, where it produces beryllium-aluminum alloy products, and has commissioned the equipment with a successful first melt. The Company is now ramping up its production capacity in order to meet backlogged Beralcast® orders as well as a significant acceleration of component part orders from existing and new customers.
Advanced automation and real time process monitoring have been integrated into this VIM furnace, thereby enabling a significant step-change in capability. With improved cycle time, the furnace is expected result in a 25% increase in the Company’s daily melt capacity. Combined with additional shifts, reduced maintenance down-time, and expected yield improvements, this capital improvement should position IBC to significantly increase output over the next 12 months.
“This furnace is a world-class piece of equipment that will open up capacity and further refine our melting processes by providing a significant amount of time-correlated data for each mold we produce,” according to Chris Huskamp, President of IBC Advanced Alloys Engineered Materials division.
“I’m very pleased with the extraordinary effort by our team to replace our legacy furnace with this new, cutting-edge production equipment,” said Major General Duncan Heinz (USMC, ret.), President, CEO, and Director of IBC. “We elected to delay the installation of this unit in order to squeeze out additional product from our existing furnace so that we could meet rising customer demand for our Beralcast® material. The constraint for the Engineered Materials Division has been furnace throughput, not customer orders. Now, with this furnace up and running and certified, we can expand output, clear up our order backlog, and ramp up to meet growing market demand in our effort to reach our profitability goals.”
The beryllium-aluminum furnace is one of several components of the capital improvements program that IBC launched in June of 2016 following a C$7.46 million capital raise. In the Engineered Materials division, which manufactures beryllium-aluminum alloy products, other equipment upgrades that have been completed, or are being installed now, include a Digital Radiography Quality Control System and tumble blast finishing equipment.
The Company’s Copper Alloys division is also nearly complete in installing or upgrading production equipment at its Franklin, IN manufacturing facility, including a new solution annealing furnace, which is expected to facilitate expanded sales and revenue from current business lines as well as an expansion into new product lines.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors:
Duncan Heinz, President, CEO and Director
Contact:
Jim Sims, Investor and Public Relations
IBC Advanced Alloys Corp.
+1 (303) 503-6203
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ibcadvancedalloys.com
@IBCAdvanced $IB $IAALF
About IBC Advanced Alloys Corp.
IBC is a leading beryllium and copper advanced alloys company serving a variety of industries such as defense, aerospace, automotive, telecommunications, precision manufacturing, and others. IBC’s Copper Division manufactures and distributes a variety of copper alloys as castings and forgings, including beryllium copper, chrome copper, and aluminum bronze. IBC’s Engineered Materials Division makes the Beralcast® family of alloys, which can be precision cast and are used in an increasing number of defense, aerospace, and other systems, including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. IBC’s has production facilities in Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Missouri. The Company’s common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “IB” and the OTCQB under the symbol “IAALF”.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
This news release was prepared by management of IBC, which takes full responsibility for its contents. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of this news release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This disclosure contains certain forward-looking statements regarding increases in daily melt capacity that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company’s control including: the impact of general economic conditions in the areas in which the Company operates, industry conditions, changes in laws and regulations including the adoption of new environmental laws and regulations and changes in how they are interpreted and enforced, increased competition, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, limited availability of raw materials, fluctuations in commodity prices, foreign exchange or interest rates, stock market volatility and obtaining required approvals of regulatory authorities. All statements included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on assumptions made by the Company based on its experience, perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate in the circumstances. IBC will update this forward looking information as required by National Instrument 51-102.
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