SIFCO Expands into IGT with T&W Forge Purchase

SIFCO Industries Inc. has purchased the forging operation and related assets of T&W Forge Inc. for an undisclosed price. Cleveland-based SIFCO said the purchase will expand the range of its product offerings “significantly” beyond aerospace products, and continues a re-focusing strategy that it began when it divested its large-engine component repair business in 2007. “This immediately accretive acquisition will not only enhance our near-term financial performance but will also expand our business into the complementary power generation market,” explained SIFCO CEO Michael S. Lipscomb. TWF produces forged components weighing less than 500 lb. in multiple alloys for various brands and sizes of industrial gas turbine engines. It has a number of hammer forging machines available at its 500,000-ft ² plant in Alliance, OH, including: 25,000 lb., 20,000 lb., 18,000 lb., 14,000 lb., 8,000 lb., 6,000 lb. (2), 5,000 lb. (2), 4,000 lb. (2), 2,500 lb. (2), and, 1,500 lb. TWF also has 3-in., 4-in., and 6-in. upsetters available, and it is able to offer tooling repair, heat treating, Magnaflux inspection, and numerous finishing, metallurgical analysis, and testing services. T&W Forge had been owned by Durrel Metal Products, a group that also includes MC Machine, a Cleveland-based machine shop, fabricator, and assembler operation for large precision components; and T&W Stamping, a deep-drawing operation for steel, stainless steel, and aluminum components in Alliance, OH. SIFCO has three business groups: SIFCO Applied Surface Concepts (ASC Group), which specializes in component surface enhancement; SIFCO Turbine Component Services and Repair Group, a small aerospace turbine engine component repair business; and Aerospace Component Manufacturing Group, (ACM Group), an aerospace component forging business. The SIFCO forging operations — including a closed-die press for forging up to 40,000 lb; hydraulic presses up to 2,500 tons; a precision hydraulic screw press; a mechanical upsetter; a 5,000-lb open-frame hammer — producing components in carbon, alloy, and stainless steels, aluminum, titanium, and cobalt, copper, and nickel alloys. Recently the company installed a 35,000-lb. forging hammer cell, which along with the T&W operations will enable SIFCO to supply both aerospace and power-generation markets with a wide range of product types and sizes.