PCP Company Profile

Precision Castparts Corp.is a worldwide manufacturer of complex metal components and products, provides high-quality investment castings, forgings and fasteners/fastener systems for critical aerospace and industrial gas turbine (“IGT”) applications. The Company also provides investment castings and forgings for general industrial, automotive, armament, medical and other applications; nickel alloys and product forms, as well as cobalt alloys, for the aerospace, chemical processing, oil and gas, pollution control and other industries; fasteners for automotive and general industrial markets; specialty alloys, waxes and metal processing solutions for the investment casting industry; refiner plates, screen cylinders and other products for the pulp and paper industry; metal-injection-molded and ThixoFormed™ parts for automotive and other markets; sewer systems; utility systems; and metalworking tools for the fastener market and other applications.

We manufacture complex metal components and products in three principal business segments: Investment Cast Products, Forged Products and Fastener Products.

Investment Cast Products

Our Investment Cast Products segment includes our subsidiaries PCC Structurals, PCC Airfoils and Specialty Materials and Alloys Group (“SMAG”). These operations manufacture investment castings for aircraft engines, industrial gas turbine engines, airframes, medical prostheses and other industrial applications primarily in the aerospace and power generation markets. The segment also provides alloys and waxes to PCC’s investment casting operations, as well as to other investment casting companies.

Forged Components

We manufacture forged components from sophisticated titanium and nickel-based alloys for jet engines, including fan discs, compressor discs, turbine discs, seals, spacers, shafts, hubs and cases. Our airframe structural components are used on both commercial and military aircraft and include landing gear beams, bulkheads, wing structures, engine mounts, struts and tail flaps and housings. These parts are made of titanium, steel or other alloys. We also provide forged products for use in power plants worldwide, as well as in oil and gas industry applications. These products include discs, spacers and valve components for land-based steam turbine and industrial gas turbine engines, as well as shafts, cases, and compressor and turbine discs for marine gas engines. We also produce a variety of mechanical and structural tubular forged products, primarily in the form of extruded, seamless pipe, for the domestic and international energy markets, which include coal and nuclear power plants, co-generation projects, and retrofit and life-extension applications. For naval defense applications, we supply forged components for propulsion systems on nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers, as well as forgings for pumps, valves and structural applications.

With the acquisition of SPS Technologies, Inc., we have become a leading developer and manufacturer of highly engineered fasteners, fastener systems and precision components, primarily for critical aerospace and automotive applications. Approximately 73 percent of Fastener Products sales come from the same aerospace customer base already served by our Investment Cast Products and Forged Products segments. In this regard, Fastener Products is subject to many of the same market forces as these other two segments. The balance of the segment’s sales derives from automotive and general industrial markets, including farm machinery, construction equipment, machine tools, medical equipment, appliances and recreation.

Our sales of investment castings products and forged products are made through direct sales personnel located in each business operation and through field sales representatives located at U.S. and international locations near our major customers, as well as through distributors. Our fastener products and services are sold by a direct sales and marketing staff and through a worldwide network of independent sales representatives and distributors. Industrial metalworking tools and machines and other metal products are sold by both internal sales forces and sales representatives in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Due to the sophisticated nature of our products, our sales efforts require technical personnel to work closely with customers to identify and assist in the development of new and modified products and to provide other services that are necessary to obtain new and repeat orders.

Competition

We are subject to substantial competition in all of the markets we serve. Components and products similar to those we make can be produced by competitors using either the same types of manufacturing processes or other forms of manufacturing. Although we believe our manufacturing processes, technology and experience provide advantages to our customers, such as high quality, competitive prices and physical properties that often meet more stringent demands, alternative forms of manufacturing can be used to produce many of the components and products we make. Despite intense competition, we believe we are the number one or two supplier in most of our principal markets. Several factors, including long-standing customer relationships, technical expertise, state-of-the-art facilities and dedicated employees, aid us in maintaining our competitive advantages.

In the Investment Cast Products segment, our principal competitor is Howmet, a subsidiary of Alcoa Inc. Howmet produces stainless steel, superalloy, aluminum and titanium investment castings principally for the aerospace and IGT markets. We believe that Howmet is capable of producing investment castings comparable to all but the largest and most complex of our structural investment castings. We also believe Howmet has the financial and technical resources to produce structural castings as large and complex as those produced by us, should they decide to do so. In addition, Pacific Cast Technologies (“PCT”), a subsidiary of Ladish Co., manufactures large titanium investment castings for jet engine and airframe applications. Many other companies throughout the world also produce stainless steel, superalloy, aluminum or titanium investment castings, and some of these companies currently compete with us in the aerospace and other markets. Others are capable of competing with us if they choose to do so.

In the Forged Products segment, our largest competitors are Ladish Co., Fortech, S.A. and Thyssen AG for aerospace turbine products, Alcoa Inc. and Schultz Steel Company for aerospace structural products, Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes and Sumitomo Corporation for energy products and Allegheny Technologies, Inc., Carpenter Technology Corporation, and Haynes International, Inc. for nickel-based alloys and super-alloys. In the future, we may face increased competition from international companies as customers seek lower cost sources of supply.

International competition in the forging and casting processes may also increase in the future as a result of strategic alliances among aircraft prime contractors and foreign companies, particularly where “offset” or “local content” requirements create purchase obligations with respect to products manufactured in or directed to a particular country. Competition is often intense among the companies currently involved in the industry. We continue to strive to maintain competitive advantages with high-quality products, low-cost manufacturing, excellent customer service, and delivery and expertise in engineering and production.

In the Fastener Products segment, our Fastener operations compete with a large number of companies based primarily on technology, price, service, product quality and performance. Of these companies, we consider Alcoa Inc., LISI, and McKecknie to be our leading competitors. We believe that we maintain our strong market position through our high-quality product performance and service to our customers.