Since appearing on the automotive scene in 1899, aluminum has taken a somewhat leisurely route to establish itself as "the manufacturing material of the future." Ford Motor Company kicked off the material's belated coming-out party with production of its 2015 F150 truck body and bed components that are 97 percent aluminum alloys. After more than a century of progressively more...

The following is an interview with the editor of Enterprise Minnesota and Tom Schabel, CEO, Alexandria Industries. (December 2014) You’ve devoted an extraordinary amount of time and energy around creating and implementing a values policy for your company. Why? Three years ago, we developed a shared vision for the next five years for Alexandria Industries. We talked about what kind...

Aluminum may be a better choice than stainless steel for some applications.

The North American aluminium extrusions market is currently on an upswing with construction starting to pick up just when the light metal is making inroads in the automotive market. The big question is whether there will be any supply bottlenecks as demand ramps up.

Solar Industry (September 2014) In today's complex solar project management environment, selecting supply chain partners is just as important as executing project construction. Renewable energy projects require a multitude of materials from a variety of manufacturers and suppliers. One key element of large-scale PV installations – racking and support systems – should not be an...

Product Design & Development (July 2014) To better control the increasing product development costs without sacrificing quality, medical device OEMs are turning to aluminum instead of other more costly materials to manufacture both their new and existing components. The following 10 tips will help manufacturers improve their designs for aluminum medical components earlier in...

Medical device OEMs can cure their supply-chain ills with suppliers who do more than supply.

Tom Mason, Editor-in-Chief, Enterprise Minnesota (November 2013) The urgency of attracting qualified workers to American manufacturing was underscored again this fall when the marquee event of Alexandria Industries' annual Customer Leadership Conference was a showcase about how Alexandria, MN is earning a national reputation for its results-oriented public/private partnership effort...

Sean Fenske, Editor-in-Chief, Medical Design Technology (October 2013) Medical device designers can select from any array of component fabrication processes for the necessary parts for a project, such as molding, machining, and even 3D printing. While extrusion may be most often associated with medical tubing, it serves as yet another method device developers need to consider for...