American Locker Group Inc (OTC:ALGI)

DFW AIRPORT, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Locker Group Incorporated (OTCQB: ALGI), a recognized leader in secure storage solutions, today announced it has completed the previously announced relocation and consolidation of its Ellicottville, New York operations into its DFW Airport facility. The Ellicottville operations manufactured and serviced the iconic orange key and lock system.

The Company made the decision to consolidate its orange key and lock operation with its Texas metal fabrication facility as part of its ongoing strategy to streamline operations, improve customer service and reduce costs.

Previously, American Locker had to ship keys and locks from New York to be mated with lockers in Texas before delivery to customers. As a result, one of the immediate benefits of this consolidation will be to shorten lead times, thereby enabling ALG to fill customer orders more quickly.

American Locker estimates that this move will provide an additional benefit insofar as it will generate annual payroll, occupancy and transportation savings of $240,000. The full effect of these savings will start being recognized in the first quarter of 2013.

“American Locker is known not only for the highest quality products, but also for outstanding customer service. We relocated our key and lock operations, in part, so we could continue to provide the best customer service in the industry,” said Paul M. Zaidins, American Locker’s President and Chief Executive Officer. He added, “Our decision to relocate the lock operation is a rare opportunity to improve performance while lowering costs, a combination that provides value to customers and stockholders alike.”

DFW AIRPORT, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Locker Group Incorporated (OTCQB: ALGI), the worldwide leader in secure storage solutions, today announced it has taken another step in its recently announced strategy to aggressively grow its contract manufacturing business by acquiring a new Amada laser cutting system.

In its core locker and mailbox markets, American Locker has long been known for quality products backed by industry leading customer service. This new cutting system, a 4000 watt Amada FOM2 NT laser, is a high precision tool that will help American Locker bring its long-standing commitment to quality and reliability to ALGI’s contract manufacturing customers. At the same time, American Locker’s management believes this laser cutting system will enable ALGI to reduce lead time, material waste and tooling costs, and increase manufacturing flexibility – all of which should result in improved contract manufacturing economics for the Company. The laser cutting system was financed via a lease from Bank of America.

This is American Locker’s latest investment in its manufacturing capabilities since the start of 2011. Previous investments include moving to a new facility; installing a state-of-the-art powder coat line; adding depth to its contract manufacturing expertise; and streamlining its organizational structure. These changes have facilitated the Company’s ability to take advantage of contract manufacturing opportunities and have enhanced its leadership in its core markets.

American Locker first started offering contract manufacturing services in 2009 and has recently experienced accelerated growth in this market segment. Given the Company’s initial success, management believes this market segment offers the Company an excellent opportunity for continued revenue growth, as well as product and market diversification.

Management believes that the growth experienced by the Company in this market is consistent with the growth trends being experienced by the precision sheet metal fabrication industry as a whole. The Boston Consulting Group, in its publication, The U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance: Which Industries?, states that fabricated metal products are one of seven manufacturing sectors poised to return to the U.S. from China. Combined with U.S. exports, these seven industries could create 2 to 3 million jobs over the next five years. In the most recent Economic Census, the US Census Bureau estimated the annual value of shipments from US based sheet metal work manufacturers to be approximately $22 billion.

“We believe this new laser cutting system will help accelerate our growth in contract manufacturing,” said Paul M. Zaidins, American Locker’s President and Chief Executive Officer. He added that “At American Locker, our goal is to increase stockholder value, and we strive to do this, in contract manufacturing and in our other markets, by offering the highest quality products at competitive prices. The addition of this advanced cutting system to our manufacturing capabilities is another significant step in our pursuit of that goal.”

Previous release from 8/29/2012

American Locker Group Incorporated (OTCQB: ALGI), the worldwide leader in secure storage solutions, today announced its strategic decision to aggressively grow its contract manufacturing business

American Locker first started offering contract manufacturing services in 2009 and has recently experienced accelerated growth in this market segment. Given the Company’s initial success, management believes this market segment offers the Company an excellent opportunity for continued revenue growth, as well as product and market diversification.

Management believes that the growth experienced by the Company in this market is consistent with the growth trends being experienced by the precision sheet metal fabrication industry as a whole. The Boston Consulting Group, in its publication, The U.S. Manufacturing Renaissance: Which Industries?, states that fabricated metal products are one of seven manufacturing sectors poised to return to the U.S. from China. Combined with U.S. exports, these seven industries could create 2 to 3 million jobs over the next five years. In the most recent Economic Census, the US Census Bureau estimated the annual value of shipments from US based sheet metal work manufacturers to be approximately $22 billion.

American Locker has made substantial investments in its manufacturing capabilities during the last year by: moving to a new facility; installing a state-of-the-art powder coat line and precision fabrication equipment; adding depth to its contract manufacturing expertise; and streamlining its organizational structure. These changes have facilitated the Company’s ability to take advantage of contract manufacturing opportunities and have enhanced its leadership in its core markets.

“We have been gratified by our initial success in contract manufacturing, and we believe the changes we have made over the last year have positioned us to capitalize on our initial success and to offer increased value to our customers in the locker and storage markets,” said Paul M. Zaidins, American Locker’s President and Chief Executive Officer. He added, “At American Locker, our goal is to increase stockholder value and this increased focus on contract manufacturing is another step in pursuit of that goal.”