JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #109 - November/December 2016 - 11

Argosy international expands its honeycomb capabilities

JCM: How large will the facility
be? What type of machining/assembly operations will it handle?

T. B.: The facility provides

3,600 m² of manufacturing, assembly and warehouse space,
with room for future growth.
It will be certified to ISO 9001
and is equipped with a carefully
designed cutting room (vertical
band saw), an industrial dust
collection system, and a staging
area for materials.
Inventory locations will be dedicated to standard stock material
(HOBE commercial grade 3000
and 5052 series) and customer-specific stock material. An expander table will be installed in
order to constantly monitor the
quality of products and produce
expanded core products. The facility will be able to provide special application products, such
as drilled and slotted core.

JCM: When will the facility be
fully functional? What products will be manufactured in
Alabama?

port, marine, and building industries.
JCM: How are these markets

T. B.: We are anticipating to growing or changing?
be up and running at full capac- T. B.: These markets are
ity mid-June. Argosy will supply commercial-grade aluminium and aramid honeycomb
core products from this facility.

growing every year, especially
building and mass transport,
which require light composite
products. Additionally, new
markets arise each year due to
JCM: What are the key target
the distinct advantages providmarkets this facility will suped by the use of aluminium or
port?
aramid honeycomb composT. B.: This facility will sup- ites in applications requiring
port several key markets: clean extremely strong and exceprooms, marine, recreation, tionally light materials.
building, mass transport, tooling, energy absorption, and JCM: What does Argosy see
air/light
directionalization as key to its success in these
to name a few specific appli- markets?
cations. Initially, the cutting T. B.: Argosy is focused soleroom will be dedicated to serve ly on honeycomb core, and
panel manufacturers involved is the only core supplier with
in the clean room, mass trans- this unique approach in the

commercial-grade aluminium
and aramid honeycomb core
market. We offer honeycomb
panel manufacturers several
value-added processes such as
vendor-managed
inventory,
use of expander tables, and aluminium face sheet supplies.
JCM: Does Argosy see potential
for future growth within this
facility?

T. B.: The market for honeycomb core products continues to expand, and Argosy
has designed this new facility
with room for expansion to
accommodate current and new
customer requirements. We
will increasingly focus on proposing outsourced solutions to
our customers for non-core activities throughout the 10-step
process of composite manufacturing.

solutions, consignment opportunities, slotted core, and
kitting services. The company
is dedicated to providing efficient logistics with product
kitting options for customers.

Fig. 2: The new Argosy Composite Advanced Materials (ACAM) facility in
Huntsville, Alabama

core product, an expander table will be installed. The configuration of the new space allows for future growth such as
additional saws and room for
inventory. Initially, the cutting room will be dedicated
to serve panel manufacturers
involved in the clean room,
mass transport, marine, and
building industries.
Argosy International expects

to multiply the output of its
unexpanded and expanded aluminium core plant in
Huntsville by two-fold. The
facility will provide US panel manufacturers with a local
manufacturer and distributor of honeycomb core products. Argosy will also provide
a dedicated customer service
team and value-added services such as vendor-managed inventory (VMI) storage

2000. To serve the needs
of the market, it opened offices in Beijing, Xian, and
Shanghai, China as well as in
Korea, Malaysia, Singapore,
India and Australia. Currently,
Argosy is an approved suppliStrong roots
er to every major aerospace
Established in the United contractor in Asia, excluding
States in 1988 as a trading Japan.
company, Argosy began to focus on the commercial aero- The company serves a diverse
space market in Asia when it group of markets but concenbecame the material solutions trates on aerospace, automoprovider for composite mate- tive, tooling and prototyping
rials and specialty chemicals for industry and electronics.
to a major aerospace manu- Its portfolio includes tooling
facturer. To support this busi- resins, adhesives, coatings,
ness, Argosy opened its first potting compounds, specialty
overseas office in Taiwan. tapes, film adhesives, honeyOver the next five years, the comb, sealants, prepregs and
company became a key sup- high-performance fabrics.
plier to China and was well
positioned in this market
when outsourcing to Asia by
More information:
www.argosyinternational.com
aircraft manufacturers such as
Contact:
Boeing, Sikorsky, Honeywell
tburke@argosyinternational.com
and Eurocopter took off in

No109 November - December 2016

/ jec composites magazine

http://www.argosyinternational.com

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