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The development, production and marketing of these high-performance, superalloy products require specialized knowledge, unique facilities, and high-tech application engineering. Producers of the alloys stand apart from the mega-volume producers of commodity steels. Manufacturers of high-performance alloys constitute a recognized individual segment of the industrial economy. The United States, with its technology-driven economic base, is the world’s largest market for high-performance alloys. It follows that U.S. producers of the alloys are collectively the world’s largest repository of expertise pertaining to the development, manufacture, and application of superalloys. This group of manufacturers supplies nearly all the U.S. demand for the products and exports a substantial amount to other markets around the world. The companies in this group are acknowledged worldwide as leaders in product innovation, manufacturing expertise, and application knowledge.
In addition to their storehouse of knowledge concerning alloy production
and use, U.S. superalloy-producing companies have the international commercial
experience and business systems to service world markets. Whether it is
meeting national specifications of Germany, Japan or Great Britain or quality-system
compliance with ISO standards, U.S. suppliers of high-alloy products have
the personnel and systems already in place to deal expertly and efficiently
with all national and international requirements. Sufficient manufacturing
capacity now exists to ensure prompt delivery of any size order. Additionally,
most supplier maintain stocks of commonly used products.