FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2004
Contact: Lonita McLean
Francis Marketing
(616) 235-1122

Granco Clark Supplies Handling System for
Largest Press in North America

Belding, MI — Universal Alloy Corporation (UAC), a division of ALU Menziken Aerospace, is installing what will be the largest extrusion press in North America at its facility in Canton, Georgia. UAC has chosen Granco Clark to supply the handling system, including controls, for the 16,200-ton direct-indirect extrusion press.

The Granco Clark handling equipment is designed to accommodate very large, heavy extrusions. The runout for the new system, which incorporates an existing heat-treat furnace and 350-ton stretcher, consists of a series of individually driven, heavy-duty rollers. The roller pallets are height-adjustable, allow a maximum extrusion weight of 100 pounds per foot, and are installed on top of the longitudinal die slide of the press. The tables that move the extrusions from the press to the heat-treat furnace and then into the stretcher and finish saw are a combination of traversing beam and belt tables that also allow a maximum profile weight of 100 pounds per foot.

For more than 40 years, UAC has supplied aircraft manufacturers worldwide with quality hard alloy aluminum extrusions. The new press will allow the company to expand its capabilities to the largest extrusions and tubes of high-strength aluminum for the aerospace industry.

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Founded in 1947, Granco Clark began manufacturing billet furnaces and has evolved into a global, single-source supplier and leading equipment manufacturer to the aluminum extrusion industry. Quality is a key component in every extrusion system the ISO-9001 certified company fabricates—from billet log furnaces and log shears to age ovens and stacking equipment.