• Published June 5th, 2023

Fort Wayne Metals, a leading manufacturer of precision wire-based materials and components, acquired certain equipment and assets to support tantalum production from Plansee SE, a leading materials manufacturer located in Austria.

The acquisition, which closed on Jan. 9, 2023, capitalizes on Fort Wayne Metals’ long-time processing capabilities – including three decades of tantalum wiredrawing expertise – to better serve existing and new customers in the capacitor market and across the medical industry. Tantalum is a refractory metal that is well suited for highly demanding environments because of its resistance to heat and corrosion and overall durability.

For the last 20 years, Plansee has been supplying tantalum wire to Fort Wayne Metals where it undergoes further processing before being shipped to customers for use in various medical devices. After Plansee shared their plan to terminate tantalum operations, Fort Wayne Metals saw an opportunity to expand its portfolio of processing capabilities by purchasing the wiredrawing equipment from the facility in Liezen, Austria.

“The strong partnership we have built with Plansee is due to our mutual interest in innovative solutions, product quality, and reliability,” says Scott Glaze, Chairman and CEO of Fort Wayne Metals. “By further bolstering our position as a custom manufacturer of tantalum wire, Fort Wayne Metals will be able to integrate our technical expertise, processing capabilities, and value-added services to better support our customers worldwide.”

Plansee leadership expressed appreciation for its collaboration with Fort Wayne Metals over the past two decades. “We are confident that Fort Wayne Metals will manufacture high-quality tantalum products for existing and future customers,” says Ulrich Lausecker, Executive Board Member of Plansee High Performance Materials.

Plansee staff have been instrumental in training Fort Wayne Metals’ personnel on the operation of the equipment in both Austria and Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne Metals plans to have tantalum processing operations ready to launch by the end of 2023.