Good news at Alexandria Industries in Douglas County, the heart of the Minnesota manufacturing mecca. The aluminum fabrication company, which employs 480 in the Alexandria area, is investing several million dollars to expand its production and warehouse space. The bad news: The privately held firm, which has long surpassed pre-recession revenue and employment levels, is struggling to...

The following article was published in The FABRICATOR magazine (July 2015) By Dan Davis, Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Industries, a producer and fabricator of aluminum extrusions in Alexandria, Minn., recognized the need to get involved in the local school district to boost the image of manufacturing in the eyes of students. But it didn't just volunteer to send over speakers. It...

Alexandria, Minn., has a strong business/education partnership that can serve as a model for other communities. That’s what Al Sholts, chief operating officer of Alexandria Industries, and Laura Urban, president of the Alexandria Technical and Community College (ATCC) told the Civic Caucus in an interview released last...

As the solar market continues to grow, managing logistics and supply chains are essential in order to stay competitive. Working with suppliers, including aluminum-extruded racking system suppliers, can add value beyond the cost of parts, help reduce risk, keep construction timelines on schedule, and improve site installation quality....

Extruded aluminum continues to gain traction as a mainstream OEM choice for designing, engineering, and producing component parts. The alloy and the technique have marched aggressively through the awareness and understanding phases and are now solidly in adoption territory. Frequently, aluminum extrusion is an institutionalized supply chain strategy for optimizing design and...

A vertically integrated aluminum extrusion supplier that provides in-house design and engineering can assist with OEM product development, creating opportunities to innovate on quality, precision, functionality, and performance, while optimizing manufacturability that lowers total cost and compresses...

Alexandria Industries has more than a decade of experience with robots. The company, which makes aluminum parts for everything from medical equipment to military rifles, is a much bigger...

Workforce development is one of the top issues facing U.S. manufacturers and many other industries today. Believe it or not, the United States has a shortage of skilled workers—preparing a workforce with the advanced skills required in the 21st century is Job One in the competition for new...

Selecting the highest value aluminum extrusion racking and support systems supplier....

Company representatives from Alexandria Industries are quick to point out the advantages that aluminum offers medical device OEMs over other materials that they might be considering for their components. With proper finishing, including anodizing and hardcoating, they say, aluminum products are less porous and cleaner than stainless steel. And the inert chemical compounds in aluminum,...