Project Overview

A secondary aluminum producer expanding its operations needed a complete new cast house, six major equipment units designed, fabricated, installed, and lined with refractory, along with all the structural steel, exhaust, and duct work required to commission a fully operational facility.

Rather than managing multiple specialist contractors across disconnected scopes, the client engaged AIS Group to execute the entire build-out under a single coordinated relationship. AIS Group provides fabrication, mechanical erection, and refractory installation services across all major cast house equipment OEMs. This ensures the same level of execution discipline regardless of who supplied the equipment. Southern Welding, Elite Industrial, and AAA Fabrication executed the full scope of work.

Equipment Specifications

Six primary cast house equipment units were fabricated and installed. Equipment was supplied by GNA.

Unit Type	Qty	EMS	Aluminum Capacity
Melter	4	Yes — Electromagnetic Stirring	75 MT per unit
Holder	2	No EMS	75 MT per unit
Total — 6 Units	6	4 units with EMS	450 MT total installed capacity

Note: EMS (Electromagnetic Stirring) uses electromagnetic forces to agitate molten aluminum during the melt cycle, improving metal uniformity, reducing energy consumption, and increasing throughput per cycle. The four EMS-equipped melters deliver meaningful production efficiency advantages over conventional melters.

Scope of Work

AIS Group and its subsidiaries executed the complete cast house build-out across all three disciplines:

Fabrication — AAA Fabrication

• Steel casing fabrication for all 6 melter and holder units
• Exhaust and duct fabrication to engineering specifications
• Pre-assembly of structural steel components to accelerate field erection
• Coordination of 20 truckloads of steel assemblies to site

Mechanical Erection — Southern Welding / Elite Industrial

• Full mechanical erection and installation of all 6 units
• Installation of all associated mechanical components
• Mobilized as soon as permitting was available to protect the project schedule
• Maintained high-level service flexibility in response to schedule and site changes

Refractory Installation — Elite Refractory

• Full refractory lining installation in all 6 melters and holders
• Coordinated receipt and staging of 100 truckloads of refractory material
• Sequenced installation to align with mechanical erection progress

OEM-Agnostic Execution Capability

AIS Group’s fabrication, mechanical, and refractory capabilities are not tied to any single equipment manufacturer. The AIS team has executed cast house installations and rebuilds across a range of furnace and equipment OEMs, bringing the same disciplined execution process to every project regardless of who designed or supplied the equipment.

For aluminum producers, this matters. Equipment purchasing decisions and installation contractor selection don’t always happen simultaneously. AIS Group can step in at the installation phase — whether the equipment is from GNA or any other supplier and execute fabrication, mechanical erection, and refractory installation to the same standard. One contractor. All OEMs. No gaps.

Selected Aluminum Cast House Projects

Client	Location
Hydro	Commerce, TX
Service Center Metals	Prince George, VA
Commonwealth Aluminum	Lewisport, KY
Hydro	The Dalles, OR

AIS Group has the fabrication, mechanical, and refractory capability to support cast house projects across all major equipment suppliers.

What Made This Exceptional

Three AIS Entities. One Project.

Three AIS Group entities were deployed on this engagement simultaneously. AAA Fabrication produced the steel casings, exhaust, and ducts. Southern Welding executed the mechanical erection. Elite Industrial executed the refractory installation. AIS Group coordinated the full scope as a single managed relationship. The client dealt with one team, one schedule, and one point of accountability, not three separate contractors to manage.

Integrated Fabrication and Field Execution

Because AAA Fabrication produced the steel components and the same group’s field crews installed them, components were built to the installation team’s exact requirements. Pre-assembly compressed on-site erection time, and the continuity between shop and field eliminated the rework and schedule delays that arise when fabrication and installation are managed by different organizations.

Schedule Agility

The AIS Group team mobilized as soon as each phase of permitting was cleared and used pre-assembly to maintain progress during any access constraints. Managing fabrication, mechanical, and refractory under one relationship means that schedule adjustments in one discipline can be absorbed without cascading delays across the others. Something only possible when all work streams are managed by the same team.

Logistics at Scale

Coordinating the inbound delivery of 100 truckloads of refractory material and 20 truckloads of steel assemblies,staged correctly, sequenced to align with active installation work, and delivered without creating on-site bottlenecks. This requires logistical ownership that a single-discipline contractor cannot provide. AIS Group managed this end-to-end.

Results & Impact

Metric	Outcome
Equipment Fabricated & Installed	6 units — 4 melters (with EMS) + 2 holders
Total Aluminum Capacity Added	450 MT across all 6 units at 75 MT each
Fabrication Scope	Steel casings, exhaust, and ducts for all 6 units
Mechanical Scope	Full erection and installation of all 6 units
Refractory Scope	Full lining installed in all 6 melters and holders
Material Volume Managed	100 truckloads refractory + 20 truckloads steel assemblies
AIS Entities Deployed	3 — Southern Welding, Elite Industrial, AAA Fabrication
Equipment Supplier	GNA
Safety Record	Zero incidents