1948 · Manila · Muntinlupa · Sto. Tomas · the third generation
Our foundry and our people
Two American families, one Filipino company, 78 years. This is the page for the people who work here, their children, the customers who want to know who is behind the castings, and anyone who wants to see what a working foundry looks like.
The story in one page
Claude Wilson, an American who settled in Manila after the war, founded the Claude Wilson Trading Company in 1948 to supply the reconstruction. By the 1950s it had a cupola foundry. In 1974 it became Metals Engineering Resources Corporation, METERCOR, and from 1978 it cast brakes for the car assembly plants: Mitsubishi, then Toyota, Nissan and Honda. When Mr. Wilson died his widow carried on in partnership with the elder Robert Fansler, another American married to a Manileña; the Fansler family later bought the Wilson share and has owned and run the foundry since. His son Robert, president today, is the second Fansler generation at the desk.
Glass mold castings for San Miguel began in 1986. The plant moved to a mechanized foundry in Muntinlupa in 1989, replaced its cupola with induction furnaces in 2003, began casting stainless steel for the transmission plants in 2006 and was ISO 9001 certified in 2008. In 2011 we moved to a one-hectare lot in the Light Industry and Science Park III at the foot of Mt. Makiling, added an investment casting line in 2014, a Sinto automatic molding line and a new sand laboratory in 2018, and a no-bake line in 2023. The L300 brake business ended in 2023 when assembly moved to imports; the foundry turned to the specialty alloys and jobbing work this site describes. ISO 9001:2015 was recertified in May 2026 to 2029.
Milestones
| 1948 | Founded in Manila as Claude Wilson Trading Company |
| 1974 | Renamed Metals Engineering Resources Corporation |
| 1978 | Automotive castings for Mitsubishi Motors Philippines begin |
| 1986 | Glass mold castings for San Miguel |
| 1989 | Mechanized foundry and CNC machine shop in Muntinlupa |
| 2003 | Induction melting replaces the cupola |
| 2006 | Heat-resistant stainless for the transmission plants |
| 2008 | ISO 9001 certification |
| 2011 | Move to LISP III, Sto. Tomas, Batangas |
| 2014 | Investment casting line |
| 2018 | Sinto FDNX-1 automatic molding, new sand laboratory, a larger induction furnace |
| 2023 | No-bake line; the L300 OEM business ends |
| 2026 | ISO 9001:2015 recertified to 2029; first art castings by ceramic shell |
The management team
Val Araos
General Manager. Mechanical engineer, 40 years at Metercor; started in the machine shop while still in high school. Handles every marker and most quotations.
Dennis Jaranilla
Quality Assurance Manager. Mechanical engineer, 15 years. Keeps the ISO system, the laboratory and the mill certificates honest.
Remar Gernale
Production Planning and Control Manager. Civil engineer, 20 years. Schedules the heats and the deliveries.
Robert Fansler
President and owner. MBA, 15 years at Metercor. Answers the inquiry email himself.
Supported by Warren Cardoza (production and maintenance), Irish Gernale (HR and administration), Emmanuel Claveraz (finance), Joseph Rivera (pattern and tooling), Delio Lagumbay (machine shop), and consultants John Dakan, metallurgist, and Tom Cobett, foundry engineer, both from the United States.
The people who make the castings
Photographed in 2023 on the floor. More to come as the team agrees.
Visit
The plant is in the Light Industry and Science Park III, San Rafael, Sto. Tomas, Batangas, off the STAR Tollway. Visitors are welcome by appointment, Monday to Friday; the park gate needs your name and vehicle a day ahead. Students and school groups by arrangement with HR. Hard hats and closed shoes are ours to provide; patience with the heat is yours.