AFS-ACMA merger set for membership vote.

AFS-ACMA Merger Set for Membership Vote

A proposal that would merge the American Foundrymen's Society and the American Cast Metals Assn took a major step forward when the AFS board of directors voted unanimously to approve the plan aimed at unifying the two Des Plaines, IL-based organizations. Their action, taken during the AFS summer board meeting on Aug 17, sets the stage for a vote on the merger by the Society's more than 14,000 members.

Proxy ballots, propsed new bylaws and other pertinent information on the proposal have been mailed to all AFS members who are active as of Sep 1, 1990. In a letter from AFS president Jerry Agin, members are urged to review the material, vote for the measure and return the proxy to AFS Headquarters within 30 days of receipt. The ballots will then be counted by a panel of judges and results announced during a special membership meeting scheduled for Friday, Oct 12 at AFS.

To adopt the plan, more than half of the voting members of AFS must either attend the special meeting or return the proxies. An affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members voting is required to adopt the "Plan of Merger."

If approved by the memberships of both AFS and ACMA, the target date for the merger to be completed is Dec 31, 1990. Approval will mean that the new organization will retain the name of the American Foundrymen`s Society (AFS) and all of the programs of both groups will be integrated into the new organization. Current ACMA staff will move into the AFS offices, exceptor its Government Affairs staff, which will maintain its office in Washington, D.C.

Why Merge?

The primary consideration that led to the proposed merger between the industry`s two largest associations was "unity," according to James Pearson, co-chairman of the Ad Hoc Unification Committee and immediate past chairman of ACMA. "By supporting the merger of AFS and ACMA, today's metalcasters provide our future leaders with a most powerful tool - industry unity.

"The ability to produce harmony of thought and purpose supports a vision for long-term growth and strength. As national and international issues become more complex and crucial to the survival and growth of metal casting producers, industry unity is a must."

The initial action to unify the two groups came from the ACMA board in April 1989. With a positive response from the AFS leadership, an Ad Hoc Unification Committee was created to study the benefits of a merger. Sub-committees were appointed to address a variety of issues that such a proposal would create. Among these were membership, dues and services; board representation; finance; human resources; and bylaw review.

Results of the committee's efforts included: * Definition of membership: Once the merger is approved, membership in the association will be available to all individuals and corporations in the North American metalcasting industry, supplier industries and metalcasting-related academia. No individuals or corporations will be excluded. * Coordination of services: Services of the organizations such as technical, management and educational programs and representation in Washington, D.C. will be continued and expanded providing a greater return on membership investment and commitments. * Dues modification: The new dues structure will be a combination of current AFS and ACMA dues schedules. The AFS individual dues now in place - personal, affiliate and associate members - will remain in the new structure. ACMA's corporate membership schedule will become the basis for the new organization's corporate structure. * Board structure: Current board members will continue to serve until their terms expire. The combined board will reach its definitive size in 1994. The new board will ultimately consist of 27 directors and four officers. The 27 directors will be comprised of 15 nominated from the AFS Chapters and 12 nominated "at large."

The first slate of officers (terms expiring April 1991) will include: chairman, Jerry Agin, The Hill and Griffith Co (AFS); first vice chairman, R. Conner Warren, Citation Carolina Corp (ACMA); second vice chairman, Ray Witt, CMI International, Inc (AFS); and immediate past chairman, Alvin Singleton, Intermet Foundries, Inc(AFS/ACMA). In addition, it was determined that the AFS Chapter and Regional structure will remain.

The New Organization

While the new organization will retain the long-established name of the American Foundrymen's Society, it will offer a variety of expanded programs and activities. The merger brings together the established programs of AFS in technology, research, environmental affairs, publishing and education through the Cast Metals Institute, and the management, marketing, human resource and governmental affairs activities of ACMA.

According to AFS president, Agin, "The benefits of this merger are numerous. The new organization will offer members cost savings, expanded programs and services, strong chapters and worldwide recognition. Unified as one, we will be able to work together to strengthen the foundry industry."4

In studying the initial proposal to unify the two organizations, the Merger Committee determined that the new organization would offer the industry and AFS members a variety of benefits. Chief among these are:

Recognition: The American Foundrymen's Society name will continue, thus the worldwide recognition of the new organization will as well.

Stability: The industry can be secure in the fact that as the organization moves into government affairs, management and human resource areas along with its technical programs, 95 years of successful organization and management will continue.

Expanded Programming: With the addition of management and human resource programs , the organization will be in position to further serve all interests of the foundry industry.

Clout: Fovernmental affairs efforts will now have the support of more than 14,000 members representing every foundry and supplier in the nation in addition to the 250,000 people the industry employs.

Stronger Chapters: Chapters will have the opportunity to offer more diverse programs by developing management and marketing-type subjects.

Cost Savings: The initial cost of membership to companies that now belong to both organizations will be reduced greatly. Smaller companies will definitely benefit. Indirect cost savings will be experienced immediately because CEOs and other members will only have the organization in which to be involved, one board, one set of committees to serve on, one annual meeting to attend. There will be no need for duplicate services, products and functions, thus reducing the cost of membership and increasing staff productivity and effectiveness.

AFS Membership

A key difference between the two separate organizations and the combined organization is the definition of "corporate member." In the new organization there will be one class of corporate membership with dues based upon the total payroll dollars of the company as shown in the table above. Individual members will continue to receive the services provided by the combined organizations' Technical Division (that is, the service previously offered by AFS). All current foreign corporate and individual members (outside of North America) will become international technical members and will receive the benefits of the Technical Division only.

Another key difference is that for foundries that are currently members of both organizations dues payments to the combined organization will be dramatically lower than what they are paying today to the separate organizations. For those who are personal, affiliate or associate members of AFS, dues will remain the same.

As the strengths and talents of the two organizations are integrated and more fully utilized, it is expected that more innovative services and programs will evolve. Enhanced efforts to communicate with casting customers, local, state and federal legislators, improved research, in both the technical and marketing areas, as well as the development of new management tools are some of the examples of future services that the new AFS organization will provide.

"The months of hard work by the joint AFS-ACMA merger committee are finally paying off," says Conner Warren, ACMA's first vice chairman. "The new industry organization will present a much stronger unified voice. At the same time it will be able to offer a wider variety of membership services. The new organization will be in place at a critical time as our industry prepares to meet the challenges of the 1990s."