Company History 
In 1876, Custer and his troops
were defeated at the Little Big Horn.
In that same year, over 130 years ago, the Torrance family began operating an iron foundry
in La Crosse, WI.
After working in a foundry in Scotland, in the early
1860's, John Torrance came to La Crosse. With his son
William, he started the business under the name John Torrance & Son. The firm
consisted of a foundry and machine shop. Stoves were the principal
product, with iron and brass castings for buildings, bridges and machinery
comprising the majority of the remaining work.
In the 1920's, production needs changed,
and stoves and brass castings were replaced with industrial castings for
manufacturing firms. The demand for municipal and construction
castings increased. As structural steel began to replace iron
castings in the construction industry, the machine shop became primarily a
fabricator of structural steel.
In
the 1930's, castings for the heating and air conditioning industry became
the principal product. Today, we continue to produce castings used throughout
the industry in such applications as compressors, pumps, hydraulic valves,
abrasion resistant applications, agricultural equipment, conveyor
equipment, railroad products and many other uses.
In 1974, John's grandson, Bud Torrance moved the company into a spacious new facility
in an industrial park located just South of I-90. Along with the new facility
came a new company name - Torrance Casting & Fabricating, Inc.
When further foundry expansion was needed in 1980, the fabrication
division was closed and the company name was shortened to Torrance
Casting, Inc.
Torrance Today
Today
our state-of-the-art metal casting facility is owned and managed by
William A. Torrance who now represents the 5th generation in the
family-owned business. William Torrance took
the reins from his father (Bud) in 1993 and has since led the company into the
new millennium.
The 6th generation, John Torrance, William's son, completed his Master's
Degree in Metallurgical Engineering in the Spring of 2004 at the University of
Alabama and has now returned
to the business in the capacity of Process Control Manager. William is looking
forward with pride to the day when he will be passing the ownership and
management duties on to his son John.
At Torrance, we continue to pride ourselves in our on-going commitment to not only be in compliance
with all government safety & environmental regulations, but going that
extra step to provide the best working conditions for our
personnel while helping to protect the environment for the surrounding
community.
Over the years, the Torrance family has continued to improve
and modernize this foundry operation. Currently, we pour over 30 different
types of iron to meet the needs of our customers. Computer software purchases of
Master Cam, SolidCast 2000, and AutoDesk Inventor computer software allows us to work
more closely with the design and production engineers of our customers to meet their dimensional,
metallurgical and physical specifications.
A
recent addition to our foundry is the DISA Match-130 Automated Molding Machine.
Specifically designed for the short-run jobbing foundry, the DISA can produce up
to 150 molds per hour to allow it to be equally effective in handling medium to
high volume casting requirements. At Torrance, we have successfully linked the
DISA with the Summit Automatic Mold Handling System. This combination has
effectively streamlined our molding, pouring and cooling processes to make us
more efficient within our are of expertise - highly engineered close-tolerance
castings.
Another recent improvement has been the expansion of our in-house Pattern
Shop. The pattern shop can provide pattern equipment for initial
prototypes as well as volume production needs. Pattern modifications
required to meet changing design needs are handled quickly and
efficiently.
ATASŪ, an innovative system for process control for gray and ductile cast iron,
was a new addition to our Melting Department in 2004. ATAS is based on advanced thermal analysis combined with artificial intelligence.
The Adaptive Thermal Analysis System allows our foundry to reduce casting defects, improve yield and reduce variations in physical properties.
In 2006, Torrance Casting, Inc. purchased two 300
Series Barinder Grinders from the Roberts Sinto Corporation. These fully
automated grinding stations are capable of handling castings up to 130lbs.
The Barinders have been a welcome addition to our Cleaning department and
have helped to significantly increase the efficiency at the tail end of our
production line.
Another unique, value-added feature at Torrance Casting is our environmentally safe,
fully automated Powder Coating facility. As it is located in our foundry, we can
coat your castings quickly after they have been cleaned.
Our operating philosophy has served us well for these
many years. It is a philosophy which emphasizes the principles we hold
dear. It is a philosophy
which we look to find in our customers, suppliers, and employees. We then can use this common ground as a basis on which to
build mutually beneficial long term commitments with one another.
An example of this would be our 126 year relationship with our
lending institution, US Bank.
We look forward to meeting you and relish the chance to
prove why "American Quality with Torrance Pride" is more than just our
motto - but our guarantee in how we will earn your trust and give that
"extra effort" to earn your business.
TORRANCE
CASTING, INC.
