Navistar Closes Indianapolis Foundry

[kscarbel2]

Transport Topics / July 7, 2015

Navistar Inc. said it has ended operations at the Indianapolis foundry where it previously produced engine blocks and heads for its MaxxForce engines.

The truck and engine maker first announced plans in December 2014 to close the facility as a way to cut expenses.

Navistar said it expected the closure to eliminate about 180 jobs and reduce annual operating costs by about $13 million.

Company spokesman Steve Schrier confirmed that operations had ceased by late June.

Note: Navistar closed its Indianapolis engine plant in the summer of 2009 after losing the Ford Powerstroke business.

In 2010, a plan to close the foundry was reversed after it was put under a Navistar engine parts venture called Pure Power technologies. Under an economic development agreement with the city of Indianapolis in 2011, Navistar agreed to spend $19 million to upgrade the plant with new casting equipment over three years, while increasing employment to 250. In return, the company would save $897,712 in property taxes over seven years.

[Red Horse]

And this means??? Is Navistar now out of the inhouse engine business and is outsourcing casting or do they have another???

[theakerstwo]

cummins

[kscarbel2]

And this means??? Is Navistar now out of the inhouse engine business and is outsourcing casting or do they have another???

I assume that TUPY will get ALL of Navistar's business now (not just MaxxForce 11 and 13)..

TUPY began supplying Volvo Powertrain with cylinder blocks since late 2003.

The MaxxForce 11 and 13 (MAN D20 and D26) blocks are cast at TUPY S.A., a Brazilian foundry in Sao Paulo, and then shipped to MWM’s Santo Amaro plant (also in Sao Paulo) for pre-machining before heading to Navistar’s modern big-block engine plant in Huntsville, Alabama for final-machining and assembly.

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Navistar Assigns Engine-Block Production to Tupy

Foundry Management & Technology / June 29, 2007

Navistar's International Truck and Engine Corp. has chosen Brazilian metalcaster Tupy S.A. to supply compacted-graphite iron engine blocks for two large-bore diesel engine products, the MaxxForce 11 and MaxxForce 13. The blocks will be cast at Tupy's foundry at Mau, in Sao Paulo, beginning later this year.

Tupy uses the Sintercast process control technology for CGI casting, a product of Sweden's Sintercast AB. The plant is already producing heavy-duty diesel engines with CGI for the German truck group MAN AG.

Compacted-graphite iron is created by adding magnesium to molten gray iron. The process requires careful process control, but the resulting material is said to offer advantages over gray iron, including a higher fatigue limit because CGI's molecular structure is fracture-resistant.

"The MaxxForce 11 and MaxxForce 13 will be the first heavy-duty diesel engines in North America to leverage advances in manufacturing technology to offer an engine block cast from CG Iron," stated Jacob Thomas, Navistar vice president Jacob Thomas. "The use of this material allows us to provide a high-strength block without added weight — a valuable attribute for our truck customers."

Tupy's cast blocks will be machined by Navistar's MWM International Motores at Santo Amaro, Brazil, and shipped to Navistar's new engine plant in Huntsville, AL, for final manufacturing, beginning in 2008. Navistar is building a new operation near its existing Huntsville plant, but the initial products in the MaxxForce series will be partially assembled in Germany and "trimmed" at Huntsville.

"Our ability to source globally and utilize MWM International for the machining of this new innovative block design demonstrates our commitment to integration and growth as a global company," stated Persio Lisboa, International Engine Group v.p.-purchasing and logistics. "This also allows us the opportunity to leverage our assets to serve the North American market, while creating a competitive advantage for our MaxxForce big bore engines."

The MaxxForce engines are said to offer excellent fuel economy and power characteristics, low noise vibration and harshness, and high strength, with low overall weight. The engines will be installed in International's ProStar line-haul tractors, TranStar regional-haul tractors, and WorkStar severe-service vehicles in the U.S. and Canada.

[eddeere]

Was this where the 7.3 engines for ford made ? I think at one time the made about 900 engines a day. Great more jobs lost. I wonder if the EPA had anything to do with this.

[Gmerrill0516]

I'd guess the EPA had EVERYTHING to do with this...When you have to incinerate the air comming off of a chocolate bean roasting process because it is considered polution, you have a problem. I can't imagine what you have to do to make melting cast iron an environmentally friendly operation. Camp fires will be outlawed soon lke woodstoves and coal etc.....We won't even be able to read with a candle pretty soon...too dirty! Have you hugged a tree today?

[kscarbel2]

Navistar Plans Foundry Update at Indianapolis

Foundry Management & Technology / April 21, 2011

Navistar International Corp. is expanding operations at its iron foundry in Indianapolis, planning to recall 150 workers by this summer and aiming to hire 100 more by 2014.

The company, which is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of diesel engines, indicated the nearly 80-year-old operation is capable of supplying any diesel engine manufacturer.

Details and cost for new investments in the operation have not been released.

Long known as Indianapolis Casting, the foundry casts gray and ductile iron engine blocks, and some sources indicate that Navistar intends to begin producing compacted graphite iron (CGI) there in the future.

CGI is a lightweight alternative to gray iron and aluminum that is gaining popularity for automotive engine production. Most of Navistar’s MaxxForce family of diesel engines are built from CGI blocks that Navistar sources from other foundries.

In 2009, Indianapolis Casting was marked for closure but a five-year labor agreement with the United Autoworkers in July 2010 preserved the operation on a scaled-down basis.

Now, the plant operates as a unit of PurePOWER Technologies, a company Navistar acquired in 2009 from Continental Diesel Systems US LLC, to strengthen its research and development program for diesel power technology.

“The Indianapolis foundry is a vital part of our efforts to maintain manufacturing capabilities and technical skills in the United States,” stated Navistar Engine Group president Eric Tech. “As a result of our investment to make the Indianapolis foundry a state-of-the-art facility, we will make the company more competitive to meet the global demands of the diesel engine industry.”

Navistar said the Indianapolis project is part of its plan to make PurePOWER Technologies “a world-class supplier of engine components.”

(And then, they shut it down)

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Navistar Now Producing Engine Blocks, Heads in CGI

Foundry Management & Technology / January 25, 2012

Navistar’s PurePower Technologies LLC now confirms the long-expected news that it is producing diesel engine blocks and cylinder heads for cars and trucks in compacted graphite iron (CGI), using SinterCast AB’s process control technology.

CGI is a specialty grade of cast iron that has greater tensile strength, stiffness, and fatigue strength than gray iron or aluminum, and has gained wide popularity among engine manufacturers seeking to reduce weight, noise, and emissions for their designs.

Within the Navistar group, PurePower Technologies is an R&D and manufacturing division for diesel power and emissions control products. It has research centers in Columbia, SC, and Bowling Green KY, an engine components plant in Blythewood, SC, and foundries in Indianapolis and Waukesha, WI.

Navistar has been producing diesel truck engines in CGI for several years, though castings for those products have been produced by other metalcasters. The PurePower operation in Indianapolis is the gray and ductile iron foundry long operated by Navistar as Indianapolis Casting Corp. PurePower Technologies is a company Navistar acquired from Continental Diesel Systems US LLC in 2009, to strengthen its research and development program for diesel power technology.

Indianapolis Casting was marked for closure that year, but a new five-year labor agreement changed the outlook. Last year, Navistar announced a five-year effort to update the plant as part of its plan to make PurePower Technologies “a world-class supplier of engine components.”

The value of the capital investment has not been reported.

"Building on more than 10 years of CGI product development and production experience within Navistar Inc., PurePower Technologies has the experience, the facilities, and the team to be a world-class provider of high-quality CGI engine components to the passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle industries," stated Rick Bacon, director, PurePower Technologies Metalcastings.

"We have brought the Indianapolis casting facility on-stream in record time to meet the increased demand for heavy-duty CGI blocks,” Bacon continued. “We now look forward to bringing our CGI design and manufacturing experience to OEMs around the world as demand grows for GCI head and block casting technology using SinterCast process technology."

Stockholm-based SinterCast developed the CGI production process that is used by automakers and engine manufacturers worldwide. Recently, SinterCast reported over 46 different components are being cast in series production using its process control technology.

"The commitment by PurePower Technologies to install CGI capability further demonstrates the growing demand for CGI engine components, particularly in the commercial vehicle sector," noted SinterCast president and CEO Dr Steve Dawson.

Noting the new placement provides high-volume CGI cylinder block and head production capability in the domestic U.S., Dawson added, "the global footprint of Pure Power Technologies and its parent company, Navistar, improves our combined ability to support the growing demand for CGI product development and production."

PurePower is operating the SinterCast System 3000 system, the latest generation of the control technology. It performs measure-and-correct feed forward control of CGI production, and automated feedback control of the base treatment. System 3000 also logs data from the melting, molding, and shakeout operations at Indianapolis, for quality control and traceability of the casting process.

The SinterCast license covers both PurePower foundries: The company has an option to install SinterCast control systems on both iron-casting lines at Waukesha.

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Navistar Will Close Indianapolis Foundry, Citing Costs, Efficiencies

Foundry Management & Technology / December 16, 2014

Navistar International Corporation will close its Indianapolis iron foundry by the third quarter of 2015, eliminating approximately 180 jobs but reducing the truck and engine builder’s operating costs by about $13 million/year.

The company took an $11-million Q4 2014 charge against earnings to cover employee separation benefits, pensions and other “post-retirement contractual termination benefits,” inventory reserves, and other costs.

Navistar reported a loss of $72 million for Q4, including the restructuring and other costs (e.g., product warranties), more than analysts expected, though it also reported sales for the quarter rose 9% to $3 billion.

In addition to the Q4 restructuring costs, Navistar estimated up to $40 million in additional charges during Q1 and Q2 2015, for accelerated depreciation related to the closing and related impacts during the first half of 2015.

The Indianapolis plant has been operating since 1939, casting 250,000 tons/year of engine blocks, cylinder heads, housings, front covers and other parts for the adjacent Navistar truck plant, and for other locations.

It had been marked for closing in 2010, but a new, five-year labor agreement with the United Steelworkers and a change in strategy preserved the operation. Navistar reduced the payroll and then operated it as a unit of PurePower Technologies, a diesel technology and emissions control company Navistar acquired in 2009.

Subsequently, the foundry licensed SinterCast technology and initiated compacted graphite iron production for engines, adding that option to its gray and ductile iron products.

(Navistar had a license to have American workers produce CGI engine blocks and heads, but chose to support Brazil’s economy instead by sourcing from TUPY)

"Over the last two years, we've taken a number of steps to strengthen our business and position the company for a return to profitability and long-term success," stated Persio Lisboa, Navistar's president of operations. "We've determined that leveraging our suppliers for these components will reduce our engine costs, improve our overall manufacturing capacity utilization, and free up additional resources to invest in our core North America truck and parts business."

Navistar stated it would source its casting requirements “from the supply base.” The company continues to cast commercial vehicle and engine parts in ductile iron at a foundry in Waukesha, WI.

"Closing a facility is a difficult decision because of its impact on the many great people who've been part of our company," according to Lisboa, who promised Navistar would “treat people with dignity and respect throughout this process."

[Tuffguy707]

Umm Tupy is where the dreaded Cummins 53 block was made, that was almost a disaster for Cummins.

[kscarbel2]

Cleveland company acquires former Navistar plant site

Indianapolis Business Journal  /  September 19, 2016

The former Navistar plant on Indianapolis’ east side has been sold, but the new owner says he’s not certain yet what his company will do with the property.

The Brookville Road site, which includes about 1.6 million square feet on about 90 acres, formerly housed a Navistar International Corp. engine plant and foundry. The engine plant ceased operations in 2009 after about seven decades of production at the site, and the foundry shut down in June 2015.

Cleveland-based Park Corp. purchased the site from Navistar last month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, though in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Navistar described the sales price as “an immaterial amount” to the company.

The property's value was accessed at at about $8.5 million in 2015, but that was lowered to about $3.8 million this year.

The huge east-side facility employed as many as 1,650 workers in 2005, but began mass layoffs amid the recession as the auto market tanked. The engine-plant closure cost about 700 employees their jobs. About 180 workers lost their jobs when the foundry shut down.

Navistar is still doing some wind-down activities at the plant but that work should be finished by the end of this month, said Raymond Park, founder and chairman of Park Corp.

Park, 90, founded his company in 1946. It specializes in purchasing assets—particularly industrial sites—to refurbish and lease. Park said his family-owned company has about 30 million to 40 million in real estate holdings in several states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Minnesota, Texas, California and Oregon.

Park said his typically purchases properties before it decides exactly how to repurpose them—and this is also the case with the Navistar site.

“Very seldom do we buy a plant and know exactly what we’re going to do with it,” Park said. “We go down the best road possible.”

Park said his company’s initial strategy for the Navistar site will be to try and find a new tenant or tenants for the foundry.

“We may be unsuccessful in doing that. It may be successful,” Park said.

A single tenant might want to occupy the entire property, or it might end up being split among multiple tenants.

Whoever ends up at the site, Park said his company intends to hold the property for the long term.

“We’re not in the business of buying and selling. We’re in the business of buying and fixing up and leasing,” Park said.

It’s a strategy Park has used with success in other locations.

In 1977, Park Corp. purchased a former military bomber and tank plant in Cleveland and redeveloped it into the International Exposition Center, or I-X Center. The facility occupies 2.2 million square feet and is located next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

Park Corp. sold the I-X Center to the city of Cleveland and now leases the space back from the city. Park Corp.’s offices are also housed in this facility.

Another long-term Park Corp. holding is an auto stamping plant in South Charleston, West Virginia. When a former tenant ceased operations at the site in 2006, Park Corp. invested millions of dollars in the property and equipment with the goal of finding a new tenant to restart the site. Park landed Spanish company Gestamp Automocion, and stamping operations resumed at the site in 2012.

The first order of business for the old Navistar site will be cleanup.

Workers have already started cleaning the foundry area. By the end of the year, Park plans to have an auction to get rid of excess machinery and equipment.

“Six months from now, we’ll know a lot more than we do now,” Park said.

It’s also premature to know if the project will receive any economic incentives.

Todd Cook, senior project director for Indianapolis Economic Development at the Indy Chamber, said local incentive offers could come after Park Corp. secures a tenant for the site. The level of incentives would depend on how many employees end up working at the facility.

“We’ll work with them as appropriate,” Cook said.

For most of its 70-year-plus history, the local Navistar plant operated under the name International Harvester and built a range of products, from farm implements to refrigerators. In its later years, it made only diesel engines—a booming business before the Great Recession set in.

In 2005, the engine plant had 1,100 union employees working two shifts, rolling out 280,000 engines annually. The foundry employed another 550 workers. That year, Navistar invested more than $300 million to upgrade the facility to meet new federal Environmental Protection Agency diesel guidelines. Its main customer was Ford Motor Co., which bought the engines for its F-series pickup trucks.

 

[RoadwayR]

I am thinking the real significance here is that it spells the end for the MaxxForce 7 engine.  The MAN-based engines will rely on castings from TUPY, maybe MAN too considering the VW deal.  I guess the DT's are gone now too?

[BillyT]

The DTs while not quite as fuel efficient as the Dodge Cummins have a long history of reliability,and hopefully will continue to be built somewhere!

[HeavyGunner]

14 hours ago, BillyT said:

The DTs while not quite as fuel efficient as the Dodge Cummins have a long history of reliability,and hopefully will continue to be built somewhere!

I ran the heck out of a DT in a floater truck for years. Good, reliable engine that took any work related abuse we threw at it.