Part Buyers Authority Issue #4

18 PART BUYERS A U T H R I T Y I was 22 years old when I began working at the same local foundry where my grandfather worked for 34 years. It was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and very dirty all year round. For 7 years I sorted good castings from bad. I ground and sanded castings and also punched, pressed, painted and gauged castings. After a promotion to customer service, I quickly learned that this was my opportunity to create a difference in someone’s life by making their job a little easier. From day one I adopted the philosophy—the good of the customer is equal to the good of the foundry. I always focused on educating the customer on how the foundry operates, as well as educating my co-workers on our growing customers’ needs. Later, my move into outside sales, and representing many foundries and plastics molders provided me with unlimited ways to help part buyers, as I was no longer limited to “selling” one alloy or process. This put me in a unique position to only be driven by the directive and needs of the customer. From working on the foundry floor to traveling the globe assisting some of the world’s largest manufacturing companies with part making decisions, I have insight that would be helpful to anyone going through the process of figuring out the best material and process for your part. There are several types of buyers; those who have been purchasing castings for years and know as much about them as any foundry, those who have limited knowledge of the process, and those who have just begun their careers in purchasing. My hope is that this article will provide each type with some information they may not have known. Today’s metalcasting industry is on one hand very much the same as it was years ago, and on the other hand very different. While the basic process of how a casting is made hasn’t changed, however, the way in which it is achieved has been improved over the years through advancements in technology. There are foundries that still produce castings manually and there are foundries which are totally automated. Finding the right foundry for your needs is key and understanding your needs isn’t always clear. One of the most common questions I’ve heard as of late is – why customers may be experiencing a consistent decline in service, quality, and delivery from foundries they have been using for years. MELANIE JOHNSON Sales Manager R&M Sales WHAT BUYERS NEED TO CONSIDER There are many reasons for this and it would be difficult to trace it back to one thing, but some of the issues surrounding metalcasters and to some degree, manufacturing in general is: LABOR The skilled workforce has changed. In a time when molds were made manually, you had John who knew exactly how each part needed to be made. He did it consistently with an eye for detail, took great pride in his work, and could make 100+ molds per day. As automated machines increased efficiencies (70 - 400+ molds per hour) and replaced manual operators, the need to train more operators, diminished. As a result, foundries have either greatly reduced their manual molding or eliminated it all together. Automatic molding machines are each limited to the size of patterns/parts they can use to produce castings. If a part is not compatible with the machine, or the quantities are too low (making it not economical to produce), then manual molding is still the best process. Today’s labor force however, has limited interest in learning this skill when they can just easily push a button and make molds. From a finishing standpoint, the biggest bottleneck for most foundries today, the same applies. While many foundries are making capital investments to keep temperatures in the foundry moderated and dust down, some are still hot, cold, and dirty. This environment does not appeal to today’s workers, therefore, finishing all the castings a foundry produces, falls on the few. Some foundries have integrated robotic grinding machines into their finishing departments to alleviate this bottleneck. However, this is a huge investment that many foundries cannot afford. Additionally, it cannot