August 22, 2017--Denison Industries, an AFS Corporate Member in Denison, Texas, hosted Representative John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) for a plant tour and town hall meeting on Friday, August 18.
Rep. Ratcliffe is serving his second term in Congress and is a member of the House Homeland Security and Judiciary Committees, including the Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law Subcommittee.
Ratliff’s visit to Denison was part of business tour with 15 stops. He was introduced to how Denison pours molten metal into sand molds to make machine parts such as transmission housings. Denison Industries' main foundry makes aluminum castings for commercial, industrial, aerospace and defense purposes.
The tour also featured automation and robotics used within the facility. Denison Industries CEO Chris Norch said this has allowed metalcasters like Denison Industries to perform tasks with one machine that normally would be completed by a small team. This frees up personnel to work in other areas of the plant to improve efficiency.
Following Friday’s tour, Ratcliffe held a short town hall meeting with staff and representatives from Denison Industries. In response to a question on what he could do to help encourage people to consider manufacturing as a career path, Ratcliffe said his focus would be in creating opportunities for manufacturing to thrive.
(Left to right) Bill Magers, County Judge; Chris Norch, Denison Industries; and Rep. Ratcliffe (R-Texas) were on hand at the plant tour Aug. 18.