Company Profile
J.L. French Automotive Castings, Inc.
Company Overview
Company Profile
J.L. French is a global supplier of aluminum die castings specializing in powertrain and automotive components. There are currently four manufacturing locations around the world including plants in the United States, and Spain. The company has fourteen engineering/customer service offices to globally support our customers near their regional engineering and maunfacturing locations. J.L. French is headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin for North America and in our Ansola, Spain facility for European operations.
Working with our customers, J.L. French provides die casting solutions including product design, simulation, testing, rapid prototyping and production facilities. We offer die cast machines ranging from 300 tons to 3500 tons, producing components ranging in weight from a few grams to 22 Kg.
Quality is the central focus throughout the organization. Continuous improvement is the basis for achieving this, allowing us to not only meet, but exceed customer expectations.
J.L. French is an industry leader in technical resources. Innovations are quickly and efficiently introduced as a result of continuous investment in facilities and equipment, but our greatest investment is our people.
Mission Statement
J.L. French is dedicated to being the value leader in the delivery of quality, cost, and innovative customer solutions. Our goal is to be recognized by our customers for operational excellence and continuous improvement in everything we do, attacking variation, waste, and relentlessly measuring and reviewing our process to ensure the highest quality aluminum die castings.
In addition to our customer commitment we set out to train and develop our worldwide team to minimize our environmental impact by reducing omissions, waste, and the consumption of energy.
Company History
Company History
J.L. French began making aluminum die castings in 1968 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin as a small, family owned business. The Company specialized in small engine components, other lawn care related parts, and marine engine products until receiving its first major automotive oil pan program in 1983. The success of this first oil pan program propelled the Company into becoming the world’s leading provider of highly engineered and assembled die cast aluminum oil pans within a few short years.
The launch of the Gateway facility in 1994 established a new identity for J.L. French as it quickly became recognized as the most efficient die casting and machining facility in the industry, with a fully integrated secondary smelting operation for material quality and cost control. In 1996, the Company was sold to Windward Capital Partners who introduced an aggressive growth plan with the desire to become a global supplier to the automotive industry. Soon after Windward Capital took control, J.L. French was awarded a major contract to supply automatic transmission cases for light trucks and SUV’s. This necessitated a major expansion to the Gateway facility in 1997 for the installation of the Company’s first 3500 ton die cast machines.