Aluminum Diecaster Adding Manufacturing Space

An Ohio diecaster plans to expand into an adjacent building with more machining and finishing operations. According to local reports, Kotobuki-Reliable Die Casting bought a former distribution center adjacent to its current plant in Xenia,OH, intending to renovate the facility and update it with new production equipment. The plans would lead to adding 25-30 employees, in addition to the 71 already at work producing aluminum automotive diecastings. No timetable for the expansion was reported. Kotobuki-Reliable Die Casting is a joint venture of Kotobuki Die Casting, a Japanese producer, and Cincinnati-based Reliable Castings, an aluminum sand and permanent mold foundry. Kotobuki-Reliable operates the 54,500-ft ², former Yoder Die Casting plant in Xenia, where it has installed 21 automated diecasting cells producing castings to 13 lb., with dimensions up to 120 square inches. Its automotive customers include General Motors, Toyota, and Nissan. Its finishing operations include CNC milling and turning, drilling, tapping, boring, reaming, and threading. The company also offers finishing (vibratory deburring, media blasting), painting, polishing, coating (wet coat and powder), plating, and anodizing, as well as assembly. New orders in the past year have increased as automakers resumed higher levels of production. Kotobuki-Reliable began to add production capacity at the end of 2010, but reportedly it is now focused on adding manufacturing space before increasing output further. Plans for the new location in Xenia include machining and secondary finishing operations, so Kotobuki-Reliable can maximize space in the current plant for diecasting. Finished product delivery functions will relocate to the new outlet, too.