Kaiser Aluminum Corp. in Foothill Ranch bought Columbia, N.J.-based 3D metal printer Imperial Machine & Tool Co. on undisclosed terms.
Kaiser Aluminum makes semi-fabricated aluminum products—sheet, plate, extrusions, rod, bar, tube and wire—for aerospace, general engineering, and custom automotive and industrial applications. The purchase “brings significant technology and intellectual property, to Kaiser,” Chief Executive Jack Hockem said in a release.
Imperial Machine, founded in 1943 by German immigrant Michael Joest as precision machine shop, in 2013 added metal additive manufacturing—3D printing—to its services. “Almost all 3D printed metal structures require machining operations after they are ‘printed,’” according to the company
This is “a big step forward for our business,” said Imperial’s Christian Joest, the founder’s great-grandson, who heads sales and business development. The companies “recognize how influential metal additive manufacturing is going to be in the next generation of advanced manufacturing.”
