Boose Aluminum installs new cope and drag line.

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Boose Aluminum Foundry, Reamstown, Pa., completed the installation of a new cope and drag line at the end of August, the result of an investment of nearly $3 million.

The company's owners installed the line, which is now running some production parts, in the wake of a facility purchase it made two years ago. In August 2006, the Boose group purchased an automated plant, Cornwall Aluminum, to add long-run capability to its existing job shop. Today, the group operates the Boose Aluminum facility and Boose at Cornwall, Lebanon, Pa., as two separate, wholly owned companies.

"We purchased Cornwall for the automatic capacity, and after we saw that that went very well, there was money still available to go after the market we were missing," said company President Roger Boose.

To target that missing market, the Boose group installed the new 40 x 40 x 12/12-in. automated line. About 15-20% of the company's larger rotolift work, as well as some of its smaller nobake parts, will be transferred to the line, and the Boose group currently is quoting new jobs that it couldn't manufacture economically on its older equipment.

The new casting line is expected to produce approximately 20 molds per hour, with a mold weight approaching 150 lbs., while requiring fewer employees than other processes.

"We've gone to a lot less manual labor with this system," Boose said.