Charter Aarrowcast

What Charter Aarrowcast does

Charter Aarrowcast, operating legally as Charter Casting and previously known as Aarrowcast Inc., is a privately held iron foundry headquartered in Shawano, Wisconsin. The company produces custom ductile and gray iron castings at a 210,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on a 40-acre campus, with nameplate capacity of 50,000 tons per year. The original 45,000-square-foot foundry was built in 1978 and has since been expanded multiple times, most notably through the addition of a Laempe automatic core shooter and a 60"x85" Georg Fischer green-sand molding line — one of the largest of its kind in North America, enabling castings up to 842 lb using up to 11 different cores.

The core production process is green-sand molding, supported by integrated in-house quality labs covering dimensional inspection (coordinate measuring machine, 3D laser scanning), metallurgical analysis (two spectrometers, carbon/sulphur analyzer, microscopy at 50X–500X), and sand testing (compactability, green strength, shear strength, friability, moisture, Methylene blue, screen analysis, with PLC-controlled water/bond adjustment). The company also runs a documented predictive maintenance program and recycles 41 million pounds of foundry sand annually, achieving a 15% reduction in landfill usage. It is ISO 9001:2015 certified (through April 2026) and compliant with OSHA, EPA, and Wisconsin DNR requirements.

Charter Casting sells exclusively through a B2B direct-sales motion, with quote-based pricing on a "Request a Quote" model and multi-year supply contracts. Its customer base spans four primary verticals: government and defense programs, agricultural equipment manufacturers (John Deere is a named flagship customer for the 9L engine casting), heavy truck OEMs, and industrial pump, valve, and compressor manufacturers. Design collaboration with customers — converting multi-piece weldments into single castings for strength and cost improvement — is a documented feature of the sales process, and three AFS industry awards (2014 Casting of the Year, 2015 Plant Engineering Award, 2016 Casting of the Year Honorable Mention) provide third-party validation of technical capability. No revenue, headcount time-series, funding rounds, or M&A activity is disclosed in the source material.

Name

Charter Aarrowcast

Legal name

Charter Casting

Website

https://charteraarrowcast.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Charter Aarrowcast is a privately held Wisconsin iron foundry producing custom ductile and gray iron castings up to 842 lb for government/defense, agricultural, heavy truck, and industrial OEM customers, operating a 210,000 sq ft facility with 50,000 tons of annual capacity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Shawano

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Ductile and Gray Iron Castings: Custom iron castings produced to customer specifications for industrial applications. Revenue is generated through one-time manufacturing contracts for custom castings, with pricing based on complexity, weight, and production volume. Production capacity of 50,000 tons annually.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Charter Aarrowcast (operating as Charter Casting) is a modern iron foundry in Shawano, Wisconsin that produces custom ductile and gray iron castings for government/defense, agricultural, heavy truck, and industrial pump, valve, and compressor manufacturers. The 210,000-square-foot facility operates one of the largest green-sand molding lines in North America (a 60"x85" Georg Fischer line) with annual capacity of 50,000 tons, and provides integrated metallurgical, dimensional, and sand laboratory services to support quality assurance.

Product overview

Charter Casting is a manufacturer of ductile and gray iron castings, operating as a single unified foundry with integrated manufacturing and quality assurance capabilities. The company produces 50,000 tons of castings annually through its green-sand molding line and offers complementary laboratory services for metallurgical testing, sand analysis, and dimensional inspection. Products are delivered as custom castings for original equipment manufacturers across defense, agricultural, heavy truck, and industrial pump/valve/compressor sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ductile Iron Castings

Quantifiable outcome

• 842 lb ductile iron casting for John Deere 9L engine with 39-piece weldment converted to 1 casting, improving dimension capability and cosmetics
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• American Foundry Society (AFS)minorOthersActive member of the American Foundry Society. Participates in AFS Metal Casting Congress where company has received multiple awards. AFS is the leading organization for the metal casting industry providing networking, education, and industry advocacy.
• American Society for Quality (ASQ)minorOthersActive member of the American Society for Quality, demonstrating commitment to quality management principles and practices in foundry operations.
• American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM)minorOthersActive member of ASTM International, participating in standards development relevant to metal casting and foundry operations.
• Iron Casting Research Institute (ICRI)minorOthersActive member of the Iron Casting Research Institute, supporting research and development in iron casting technologies and best practices.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• Waupaca Foundry: Subsidiary of Hitachi Metals and historically one of the largest iron foundries in the world, with multiple US plants producing gray and ductile iron castings for automotive and industrial markets. Broader and larger than Charter, but highly comparable in core product offering and process technology.
• American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO): Birmingham, Alabama-based manufacturer of ductile iron pipe and fittings, plus gray and ductile iron castings. Broader product portfolio but directly comparable iron foundry operations and similar end-market verticals.

Direct peers

• Dalton Corporation: US iron foundry with multiple plants producing gray and ductile iron castings for pumps, valves, compressors, and heavy equipment OEMs. Comparable in scale, process technology (green-sand and nobake), and customer base.
• Dotson Iron Castings: Midwest US-based iron foundry producing gray and ductile iron castings for heavy equipment, agriculture, and industrial customers. Directly comparable as a privately held regional iron foundry serving similar OEM end markets.
• Grede Holdings: One of the largest independent iron foundries in North America, producing gray and ductile iron castings for automotive, heavy truck, and industrial customers. Directly comparable to Charter in process (green-sand), product (iron castings), and end-market exposure (industrial OEMs).
• Harrison Steel Castings: US ferrous (steel and iron) foundry producing large castings for mining, military, heavy equipment, and energy customers. Comparable as a US-based ferrous foundry with capabilities for large castings and similar heavy-industrial customer base.
• Neenah Foundry Company: Long-established US iron foundry producing gray and ductile iron castings for municipal waterworks (e.g., manhole covers, valve boxes) and industrial markets. Directly comparable as a Midwestern US iron foundry with a similar product portfolio.
• Clow Valve Company (McWane): Subsidiary of McWane producing iron castings primarily for waterworks valves and hydrants. Comparable as a US iron foundry serving industrial/infrastructure customers with gray iron casting capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=0yRk6yW6j4M
• Facebookfacebook.com/charteraarrowcast
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charteraarrowcast

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Charter Aarrowcast