Dynacast Launches State-of-the-Art Die Casting Facility in Southern California.

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1997-- Dynacast, Inc., the world's leading producer of precision high-volume zinc, aluminum and magnesium die castings, announces the September opening, and October 28th grand opening, of its new, state-of-the-art Lake Forest, CA facility. The 90,000-square-foot facility, located in Lake Forest, CA, will more than double the capacity of the Tustin, CA facility it replaces.

"The Dynacast Lake Forest facility will be capable of generating $50 million in sales over the next three to five years, most of which will originate from the local California market," states Simon Newman, Regional General Manager for SPM/Dynacast and formerly Dynacast Tustin General Manager. "The new plant marks the beginning of change for Dynacast Lake Forest and we are ready to embrace that change. This is the most exciting project that the Tustin group has ever undertaken," adds Newman.

Effective October 1, Rick Van Kirk assumes Dynacast Lake Forest General Manager responsibilities. Van Kirk has served as Customer Service Manager for Dynacast Tustin for the past two years. "We are very excited about the new facility and are looking forward to the challenge of maximizing our expanded capacity," says Van Kirk.

"The new Lake Forest facility demonstrates our commitment to our customers as well as the entire Western U.S. market," states Keith Thompson, President Dynacast Americas. "We are also pleased to have David Speirs, CEO of Dynacast International, officiate the opening ceremonies."

The 70,000-square-foot die casting department will house up to 20 cold chamber aluminum die casting machines, 10 hot chamber conventional die casting machines, and 30 four-slide hot chamber Dynacast machines. The state-of-the-art equipment includes robotic parts handling, adaptive controlled aluminum technology and unique Dynacast four-slide casting technology. The four-slide system enables expensive screw machined and fabricated components to be replaced with economical precision die castings. The computer-controlled machines are capable of running at speeds up to 100 cycles per minute versus conventional machines, which typically operate at two to four cycles per minute. The expanded secondary department will be capable of tapping, machining and light assembly.

"Dynacast Lake Forest, like all other Dynacast Group companies, has invested heavily in the industry-leading Pro/ENGINEER CAD/CAM software which is used for new tool design," notes David Angell, Engineering Manager. Close integration with Dynacast's Thermal and Flow analysis software ensures that new die performance can be optimized before any steel is cut. 3D tool geometry can then be used to produce the necessary CNC programs to manufacture the tooling. Pro/ENGINEER also allows 3D data to be transferred electronically to and from customers.

"Dynacast Lake Forest is using the advanced engineering technologies to produce high-performance tooling and reduced time-to-market," adds Angell. The leading-edge tool room will provide new tools, design revisions and routine repair and maintenance.

Dynacast Lake Forest is ISO 9002 registered. The additional training facilities at the new plant will be utilized to promote continuous improvement. The division is a strategic partner in the automotive, writing instrument, security hardware and controls markets.

Dynacast is a global leader in the design and manufacture of precision engineered metal and plastic components and assemblies.

Dynacast Lake Forest

25952 Commercentre Drive

Lake Forest, CA 93640

Tel: [phone]

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www.dynacast.com

Photos available on request.

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Editorial Contact: Mike Sheehan, 440/356-6336

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Dynacast Lake Forest

Company Contact: Rick Van Kirk, 714/707-1211

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