Aero Metals

Found in 1961 and headquartered in LaPorte, Indiana (USA), Aero Metals Inc. was started by James W. Fleming. Jim was a toolmaker by trade and worked at a large aerospace foundry in LaPorte. On his off hours, he decided to start an engineering firm from his basement and began drafting tool and mold designs and consulting on products for manufacturing. Jim quickly became known as a very hard working and innovative designer which encouraged him to open a tool and mold making facility in a small garage around 1964.

Aero Metals first purchase order for a metal casting was in 1968 which precipitated his move from his basement to a 6000 sq. ft. Quonset hut in Kingsbury, just outside of LaPorte. In 1972, he moved the tool and mold making operation to Kingsbury – and the business began to grow at a steady pace. As Jim took on new orders he also needed to increase his labor force and it came apparent Aero Metals needed a bigger building, thus the move towards the center of LaPorte to Darlington Street in 1980. Now the company had room to grow.

Throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s, business was increasing at a rapid pace, but the industries technology was not, so Jim and his team of engineers began to design and manufacturer proprietary processing equipment to improve production times and increase quality. There were enormous strides being taken from one end of the process to the other: robotics were introduced to improve part quality and reduce employee injury; the installation of their own designed and built wax machines and a wax reclamation system to aid in injection time and quality; and, designing and building three multi-station degating and rotary machining centers to further increase capacity and provide a better casting to the customer. They continued to add on to the Darlington facility three more times until the used up every square foot of that property and could no longer expand.

In 2005, Aero Metals moved again but this time only down the street to a 175,000 sq. ft. facility Mr. Fleming invested in several years prior. Jim saw the future of the company and he was not going to allow square footage to keep the company from expanding to meet the customer’s needs. With the expansion came an investment into the budding industry for Aero Metals, the aerospace industry. And, in particular, the processing beryllium copper cast parts in an environmentally safe room protecting the employee from dust created by grinding and sand blasting the parts. This investment would make Aero Metals the largest investment caster of beryllium copper parts in North America.

To the credit of the leadership at Aero Metals and the diverse customer base that expanded over a multitude of industries, Aero Metals was growing at a strong pace and even though the economy was expanding and contracting with every election cycle or unforeseen national economic tragedy. In the summer 2010, the company mourned the loss of its leader and founder, Mr. Fleming. The company’s management had been preparing for this unfortunate event and in August, 2010, Bob Stowell, former Vice President and step-son, succeeded Mr. Fleming removing any uncertainties for the future of Aero Metals Inc. and its ownership.

Understanding the philosophies and entrepreneurial spirit Mr. Fleming left behind has not been lost on the company’s leadership team. The investments in people, equipment, and new technologies are still going strong today. Aero Metals believes healthy employees produce exceptional quality parts for the customer. The goal is to provide a quality product to help our customer build quality products form their customer. Aero Metals understands it all starts with the customer – to help them succeed means we succeed.

Aero Metals, Inc. provides customers around the world with precision investment castings to their finished needs. We are one of the leading privately owned metal investment cast foundries in the country. Since 1962, we’ve been helping customers in various industries achieve their goals by providing cast metal prototypes of their conceptual drawings through component part production, and assembly of finished product.

Dedicated Team, Proven Results

Aero Metals’ ability to solve casting-related challenges is enhanced by our knowledgeable staff of degreed engineers, seasoned toolmakers, and dedicated factory technicians who will work with customers to maximize product integrity and manufacturability. Our 175,000 sq. ft. facility offers a number of supporting comprehensive services to give you the best quality metal cast component with the best overall total cost. Aero Metals has a highly skilled team of mold designers and toolmakers to build your mold in our in-house CNC precision tool shop. Your company will be assigned a process engineer to manage your new project from sampling through production, ensuring we meet all of your material and dimensional quality specifications

Metal Casting Basics

Metal investment casting provides the opportunity to produce a near limitless variety of shapes from almost any alloy. Metal Casting also allows for the addition of virtually unlimited features that can be incorporated right into the mold.When producing highly complex, intricate parts or assemblies, no other fabrication technique can equal the cost-performance superiority of metal investment casting.