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We are pleased to announce two very important changes to the leadership team of Sigma Electric, Avalon Precision Metalsmiths’ parent company.

After eight years of dedicated service and outstanding leadership, Viren Joshi has decided to retire as President & Chief Executive Officer effective January 18th, 2021. Sigma’s Board of Directors is grateful and honored that Viren has accepted its request to continue to remain actively involved with Sigma and will transition to a new role as Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors effective January 18th. In this capacity, Viren will continue to serve as a board member and strategic advisor as Sigma prepares for its next exciting chapter of growth.

The Board of Directors and employees of Sigma would like to thank Viren for his leadership and all that he has done to build the company into the global leader that it is today. Since Viren joined Sigma in 2012, the company’s sales have almost tripled, while its manufacturing footprint has expanded from eight Indian facilities to seventeen world-class facilities across India, Mexico and the United States.

Avalon has always invested in our customers’ long-term needs. Rather than function as simple order-takers, we invest time in understanding the customer’s process and part.

We gather information on part volumes and requirements like surface finish, end market and necessary secondary processes. We stay engaged with the customer through production to find potential areas of cost and time savings.

Avalon Precision Metalsmiths was previously limited to our U.S-based investment casting capabilities. But now, thanks to our association with Sigma Electric, Avalon can support any casting needs our customers might have outside of the investment casting process.

We’re excited to once again exhibit our 1911 frame at the Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show). Set for Jan. 21-24 in Las Vegas, the show is sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation and is one of the sector’s preeminent events.

Although designed specifically for the firearms market, the 1911 frame is a good example of how Avalon responds to customer needs, regardless of industry. The frame provides the basic outline of a handgun, which original equipment manufacturers can finish to their own specifications. It’s also quite popular with the hundreds of boutique handgun shops that specialize in highly customizable guns. 

 Traditionally, the 1911 frame is cut and milled from bar stock or forgings, which can be a time-consuming and expensive process. The integrity of our casting provides the same frame geometry at a fraction of the cost. It is designed with machine stock in all of the necessary areas but has been optimized to reduce machining cycle times.

To make cast 1911 frames available to a wider number of OEMs and custom shops, Avalon decided in 2015 to invest in tooling, allowing our customers to access the frames at a much more attractive cost.

Selecting the right casting company to partner with can be a difficult task.  There are a few factors to take into consideration in selecting the right casting company.

Start by finding a full-service turnkey casting company that provides one-stop shopping for all your casting-related needs, including:

• Engineering excellence
• Prototyping
• Tool design & construction
• Secondary operations
• Supply chain management

Expertise and Experience

You want a casting company dedicated to being a long-term partner committed to building relationships, not just filling orders. A company that understands the importance of adding value to your product line and can assist with your new product development to not only produce a functional part but a part that processes more efficiently at less cost.  We can suggest changes that could reduce part weight, while adding features that eliminate machining and / or other secondary operations.

Precision investment casting is a refined manufacturing process that provides numerous advantages.

The process consists of several steps – creating an injected wax replica of the part, mounting the parts onto a sprue / tree and then forming a ceramic mold around the wax pattern. The wax is then melted out with steam and pressure and molten metal is poured into the heated ceramic shell.   The result is sacrificial tooling that allows for high part definition, both in ferrous and non-ferrous metals.

The aluminum wax dies offer substantially longer life than a high pressure die cast die or a plastic mold. Investment casting is a process that holds tighter tolerances than sand casting or the permanent mold process, while allowing for internal passages / undercuts to be cast in place along with superior surface finishes.  Overall, a process that affords many opportunities to reduce the overall cost of ownership.

-Avalon further strengthens Sigma's North American manufacturing footprint

-Avalon specializes in complex thin wall investment casting parts

GARNER, N.C., Aug. 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma Electric Manufacturing Corporation ("Sigma") a leading global manufacturer of ferrous and non-ferrous castings, precision machined components and sub-assemblies, today announced the acquisition of US-based Avalon Precision Casting ("Avalon").

Headquartered in Cleveland, OH, with additional plants in Wisconsin, Avalon manufactures investment castings products for blue-chip customers in the aerospace, defense, HVAC, power, agriculture, and oil & gas end markets.

The combination of Avalon's investment castings capabilities and Sigma's global, market-leading casting and precision machining capabilities brings significant product sourcing, supply chain management, and scale opportunities to each company's customer base.  The combined business is well placed to be a valuable strategic partner as customers increasingly look to manage and streamline complex global supply chains and work with world-class casting suppliers with comprehensive product offerings across metal types and process capabilities.