Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings celebrates 30th anniversary with $2.5M investment

Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings (AFSR), Telford Industrial Fasteners Operations, celebrated its 30th anniversary last month, with the announcement of a $2.5M investment in the business.

Established as Huck Fasteners in 1985, the company was acquired by Alcoa and renamed Alcoa Fastening Systems in 2002. In 2014, it became Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings (AFSR) following the acquisition of global jet engine part maker Firth Rixson.

The new equipment investment, which began at the start of 2015 and will be completed by quarter one of 2016, includes the addition of an optical inspection machine, a collar header and a shoulder bolt cell, enabling AFSR to strengthen its foothold in the automotive, construction and civil engineering sectors.

Throughout its 30 year history in Telford, AFSR has maintained regular contact with the local business and education community. Through its STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects with primary schools, support for Young Enterprise Shropshire, offer of technical and manufacturing apprenticeships leading to degree-level study, as well as its community engagement through the Alcoa Foundation, AFSR promotes the benefits of working in engineering to all ages. The employees it attracts, mainly from the Shropshire and West Midlands region, are trained to the highest level across all disciplines, a business ethic which has maintained its consistent staff retention rate of 85 percent since 1985.

Jonathan Craven, operations director at AFSR, said: “Our aim has always been to provide world class fastening solutions for complex geometries, to fulfil challenging corrosion performance requirements, as well as providing safety-critical and multi-material combinations for hybrid structures across a variety of markets. These customer expectations are exceeded and delivered by a highly-trained, organised, happy and empowered workforce, with health and safety at the heart of everything they do. I see this every day and that’s why, 30 years on, we are still a company with ambition, potential and bags of ideas.”

Picture: Jonathan Craven, operations director at Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings.