Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard Visits MEP Aided Consolidated Foundries.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 28, 2003

Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard visited Consolidated Foundries/PAC in Cudahy, CA, on Thursday, July 3, 2003. Consolidated Foundries is the only foundry in Los Angeles specializing in the aerospace/defense industry. The visit consisted of a plant tour and meeting with Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, members of her staff, Lala Billoo, Vice President of Consolidated Foundries, General Manager Steve Gallardo, Quality Assurance Manager Frank Rangel, Plant and Manufacturing Manager Sergio Garibay, Administrator Yvette Houston, and Leila Mozaffari, Vice President of California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC).

Says Congresswoman Roybal-Allard, "It is wonderful to see a successful California manufacturer who is helping boost the economies of California and the nation. Furthermore, as a strong advocate for the MEP program, I am thrilled to see firsthand how this program is assisting our nation's manufacturers and supporting our nation's homeland security."

In 1997 and 2001, CMTC, a member of a national network of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, assisted Consolidated Foundries/PAC with achieving ISO 9000 certification. The ISO 9000 certification is awarded for quality management system conformance to the requirements of an international standard that is founded on the principles of leadership, customer focus, continual improvement, system approach to management, process approach, involvement of people, mutually beneficial supplier relationships, and factual approach to decision making.

Consolidated Foundries, Cudahy Division, who employs 150 Californians, is a world-leading manufacturer of small to medium sand and permanent mold castings of high stress aluminum for the aerospace, military, and medical industries. CFI/PAC supply parts to such industry leaders as: Boeing, Parker Hannifin, Honeywell, Bombardier, SNECMA, Rolls-Royce, General Electric, Vought, Hamilton Sunstrand, Pratt & Whitney, Hispano Suiza, GKN, Fiat, and Bell, just to name a few on a worldwide basis. Recently recognized for its high quality precision work, Consolidated Foundries/PAC was recently awarded a contract with Airbus.

CMTC, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership's (MEP) Central and Southern California center, is focused on assisting small and mid-sized manufacturers in adopting new and innovative manufacturing processes. In fiscal year 2002 alone, MEP helped to create/retain 5,360 Californian jobs by keeping small manufacturers alive and improving their processes so that they could expand and grow.

"The MEP program is vital to California and the nation's economy," states David Braunstein, President and CEO of CMTC. "As California manufacturers learn new techniques that will allow them to become more efficient and more productive, thus increasing their sales, they will more readily be able to retain the current manufacturing employees and even hire new ones. If California is to succeed in today's volatile economy, we must strengthen our manufacturers and create high-paying manufacturing jobs."

About California Manufacturing Technology Consulting

A private, nonprofit corporation, CMTC was established in 1992 to provide high-value consulting services to California's high-tech and traditional small and medium-size manufacturers to increase their competitive advantage through improved methods of management and manufacturing. Today, through its seven regional centers, CMTC provides consulting services in the practice areas of Strategic Business, Lean Enterprise, Information Technology, Quality, and Supply Chain Management. CMTC's regional centers cover Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Orange County, Ventura/Santa Barbara County, the San Fernando/San Gabriel Valley, the San Joaquin Valley and San Diego/Imperial County. For more information, visit www.cmtc.com.

About Consolidated Foundries, Inc.

Consolidated/PAC Foundries is a world-class manufacturer of high precision, function-critical steel, aluminum, magnesium and super-alloy castings. The four stand-alone businesses located in City of Industry, Cudahy, Pomona, and Port Hueneme employee over 600 California residents and produce a wide variety of castings and machine-complete parts ranging from a few ounces to 1,200 pounds net weight. Consolidated-PAC Foundries specializes in sand, permanent mold and investment castings. For more information, please visit www.cfi-pac.com.