Japan’s Kimura Group has launched its Advanced Aluminum HQ Plant at its headquarters in Shizuoka, Japan. Operating since February 2026, the new facility increases the company's capacity for manufacturing large, thin-wall aluminum castings, which are critical for prototype development and small-lot production in the automotive sector.

The plant utilizes low-pressure sand casting, V-Process vacuum molding, and proprietary heat-treatment technology to create sand castings with material properties comparable to die-cast components. This setup allows customers to validate designs prior to investing in permanent tooling.

Equipped with casting machines of 200kg and 400kg capacities, a large T6 heat-treatment furnace, and sand mold forming equipment, the facility can manufacture structural "gigacastings" with wall thicknesses as thin as 2mm.