Carpenter Technology Corp. said Friday that it is planning a $115 million expansion of its premium melt capacity at its Reading, Pa., facility as part of a four-year, $200 million expansion plan.
The expansion program will include a 40 percent increase in vacuum induction melting (VIM) capacity, as well as four vacuum arc remelting furnaces and two electro-slag remelting furnaces and related annealing, homogenization and other process machinery, testing equipment, raw materials management systems and information technology infrastructure.
“The growth over the next several years for Carpenter’s high-margin products is the result of increased needs for the more specialized products manufactured by the company’s aerospace, energy, medical, automotive and truck customers,” said Anne Stevens, chairman, president and CEO. “However, these growing opportunities can only be captured by the timely strategic deployment of adequate capacity and technical resources that meet both the current and future demands of these key end-market customers.”
Construction is expected to begin in late 2007, with completion by mid-2009. Approximately 100 employees will be added as a result of the expansion.
