While at the ALUMINUM USA trade show in Detroit, Michigan in November 2015, Light Metal Age had the opportunity to interview a number of notable members of the aluminum industry.
This third interview in the series conducted by Ann Marie Fellom, publisher, presents Ravi Tilak, president and ceo of Almex USA, headquartered in Buena Park, CA. Almex has been providing equipment and technology to the aluminum industry for 18 years primarily for making aerospace (hard) alloys. This includes for slab and billet casting, from furnace to finish, and metallurgical know-how to help a plant quickly qualify for the stringent quality requirements within the aerospace industry.
“We are constantly challenged by our customers to create new equipment and develop new technology,” stated Tilak, who describes some of the interesting aluminum plants Almex has worked with over the years. This experience has resulted in several firsts for the industry. Almex holds the world record for casting the largest diameter billet in hard alloy (52 inch diameter billet), as well as the largest slab (42 inch slab, 92 inches wide). Almex has worked with customers all over the world.