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Carpenter Technology
Corporation (NYSE:CRS) is a leading international manufacturer and distributor
of specialty alloys, powder alloys, titanium, and ceramic materials serving the
automotive, aerospace, energy, industrial, medical, defense, and consumer
products industries.
Carpenter’s materials have been
used in hundreds of applications – from industrial tools to jet engines to fuel
injectors and medical implants. Carpenter produces materials in long product
form, including bar, wire, strip, plate, fine wire and billet.
Since the 1990s, Carpenter has
expanded its product line and geographic reach and emerged stronger through
economic downturns. Much of this expansion has been customer-driven. Unlike
most companies in the steel industry, Carpenter not only manufactures its
products but also distributes them through its own worldwide system of service
centers. This network, with its staff of metallurgists and engineers on the
front lines, enables the company to work closely with its specialty alloys customers
to find solutions for their product requirements, as well as to learn first
hand which materials need to be upgraded, acquired or created. Carpenter’s
direct contact with its customers has given the company a unique marketing
edge.
Building on the Past
Major
Product Lines
Markets
Manufacturing
Research and
Development
Carpenter was founded in Reading, Pa., on June 7, 1889, as the Carpenter Steel
Company. James H. Carpenter, a construction engineer whose interest in steel
production led him to the study of metallurgy, wanted to test the commercial
value of improvements he conceived for the manufacture of steel. He and a small
group of investors leased the old Philadelphia and Reading rail mill in Reading and, 11 weeks later, began melting the company's first order for 3,000 tons of
tool steel. One of his patented inventions, an air-hardening steel, was also
used for knives, drills, and projectiles capable of piercing the armor on
warships. In fact, Carpenter's projectiles proved to be a decisive factor in
the Spanish-American War, and established the company as a steel pioneer in
both the United States and Europe. As the industrial age progressed, Carpenter
developed steels for burgeoning markets such as motor cars and heavier-than-air
flight. This focus on innovation established the company as a steel pioneer in
both the United States and Europe.
The company later was
recognized as a leader in developing and producing machinable stainless steels.
A Company Set Apart
Carpenter found its
niche in the area of specialty metals in long product form (bar, rod, wire),
and today makes several hundred grades of stainless, tool steel, high
temperature alloys, and electronic and magnetic alloys. The company is known
for its technical expertise.
Carpenter also has a
history of reinvesting in its business. In the mid-1990s, the company invested
$500 million in melting and hot working equipment related to the production of
vacuum-melted specialty alloys used by such industries as aerospace and power
generation. The largest capital expenditure project during this period renewed
Carpenter's manufacturing competitiveness in narrow strip products, made from a
variety of specialty alloys. Carpenter also began making titanium bar, wire and
shaped products to meet the needs of aerospace, medical and consumer goods
manufacturers.
Carpenter has been a
public company since 1937 and trades on the New York Stock Exchange, under the
ticker symbol "CRS." In fiscal 2007, sales were $1.94 billion.
Major Product
Lines
Stainless
steels
Stainless steel remains a significant part of Carpenter's product line. During
World War I, a considerable amount of academic research was done in Europe and
the United States on "rustless” steel – later called stainless steel –
which was strong and resisted being deformed. Carpenter melted its first heats
of stainless in 1917, and continued to contribute to its development until
eventually receiving patents on the world's first free-machining stainless
steel. This and subsequent breakthroughs led to a family of Carpenter machining
bars known as Project 70® stainless, which set industry standards for
machinability from the 1960s. Carpenter continues to set new industry standards
with its latest family of stainless machining bar products, Project 70+®
stainless, the premier stainless machining bar that machines more easily and
extends tool life.
Special alloys,
including titanium alloys
Carpenter also manufactures special alloys – products that are so highly
alloyed that they are more aptly called "specialty metals" than
steels. They include electric and electronic alloys and high temperature, high
strength and other special purpose alloys. Carpenter’s Dynamet unit is a
leading producer of titanium bar and wire products that have been used in
aircraft, medical devices and sports equipment, among other applications.
Ceramics and
other engineered materials
Carpenter also produces advanced ceramic components including technical and
industrial ceramics. Some of Carpenter's traditional customers are using these
materials as alternatives to specialty metals. The company also produces
complex ceramic cores for the investment casting industry.
Tool steels and
powder metallurgy alloys
Carpenter developed and patented a complete line of tool steels, five of which
are among the most frequently used grades today. Carpenter also offers a line
of powder high speed steels that have been used to make precision cutting tools
and gears, as well as loose powders for surfacing, and consolidated powders for
a variety of applications.
Markets
Customers who depend on Carpenter products range from global corporations to
machine shops, forgers and parts makers. Consumers, retailers, and
manufacturers around the world depend on properties that Carpenter materials
impart to such products as aircraft engine blades, hip implants, drill collars
for oil exploration, high-definition televisions, pumps, valves and fittings,
and car fuel injection systems.
Carpenter served
these markets in fiscal year 2007 (ending June 30):
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Industry
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% of
Sales
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Aerospace
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37%
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Automotive
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12%
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Consumer
Products
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11%
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Energy
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10%
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Industrial
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23%
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Medical
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7%
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Manufacturing
Carpenter employs sophisticated, state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to
melt, press, anneal, roll, draw, mold, shave, cut, grind, coat, clean and
trepan specialty materials. The company's installations use statistical process
controls to help make consistent products to exacting tolerances. That
Carpenter is the premier specialty alloy manufacturer of long products in the United States speaks to the reinvestment the company has made through the decades in
manufacturing technology.
To allow the company
to continue to meet customer needs, Carpenter completed a five-year, $500
million capital investment program in 2000. Projects were aimed at increasing
manufacturing capacity and modernizing operations in growth areas of the
company's business. With a new executive management team, Carpenter now is
implementing a $200 million capital expansion of its premium melting capacity
to fuel growth, leverage its unrivaled technical expertise, and deliver
improved performance and shareholder value.
Research
and Development
Carpenter is committed to meeting the materials needs of its customers today
and well into the future. Its strong commitment to setting new industry
standards is evidenced by its Research and Development centers with teams working
in such areas as physical metallurgy, analytical chemistry, applied physics,
and process and systems development. Over the years, Carpenter has been issued
more than 140 patents. One of them, AerMetâ
100 alloy, a super-strong alloy developed for naval aircraft landing gear in
1992, was named one of the top material advances of the decade by the National
Association for Science, Technology and Society. Other Carpenter operations,
including Dynamet, its titanium manufacturer, also operate small R&D
facilities.
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