Frank W. Schaefer, Inc (FWS) started business as a refractory contractor in 1930, and began designing and manufacturing industrial furnaces in 1945. In the early 1970's FWS's aluminum furnace business grew to the place that it became necessary to form two divisions within the company: A Refractory Sales and Service Division and an Industrial Furnace Division. In 1998 the Industrial Furnace Division was separated from FWS, Inc to form a new company, Schaefer Furnaces, Inc (SFI). A combining of these two related companies took place in late 2002, forming The Schaefer Group, Inc. Twostrong traditions are recombined with the FWS Division providing exceptional refractory sales and service work, and the SFI Division providing the best aluminum furnaces and molten metal delivery systems available. Today, no other aluminum furnace builder has more experience than Schaefer Furnaces Division in the systems approach to high quality aluminum delivery. The Schaefer Group, Inc. provides turn-key service; from design, to construction and installation, to complete technical support and maintenance.