10 Years and counting.

I normally don't like to use the editorial page for self-promotion. But this month is different because our staff has reason to celebrate. Our sister magazine, Engineered Casting Solutions, just went through a significant makeover and is now known as Metal Casting Design & Purchasing.

This makeover was due because after 10 years of working and communicating with design engineers and buyers, we learned a few things about them and their needs. This makeover was a chance to reposition ourselves to better fill the needs of your customers.

The first issue of Metal Casting Design & Purchasing hit the desks of 30,000 design engineers and purchasers late last month. The magazine's new. name relates better to the information being presented each issue, allowing both current and new readers to easily recognize what we can offer them. Editorial presentation has been updated to appeal to a web-savvy readership with easier-to-read formatting. In addition, our companion website, www.metalcastingdesign.com, has fully transitioned to its own information destination for designers and buyers. The website serves as a standalone resource, rather than a companion to the magazine, with tools and information unavailable anywhere else.

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For many metalcasters, a 10-year anniversary is child's play. We have plants in the U.S. that have operated since the 1800s. In Europe, plants have been continuously operating for more than 300 years. But in the magazine business, 90% of all start-ups fail by their 10th year. This puts Metal Casting Design & Purchasing in unique company.

We also are unique because of our subject matter. For those of you who haven't seen the magazine (drop me an email if you would like to see a copy), it delivers information to your customers (from OEMs to assembly facilities to machine shops) on how to better design, source and utilize metal castings. Ultimately, our mission is to help grow the market for cast components by emphasizing the capabilities of the metalcasting process and illustrating how castings--when properly designed and sourced--can be the ultimate problem solvers.

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We also are unique because we have no direct competition. There is no other consistently published magazine specifically for casting design engineers and purchasers. While we fight for readers' time with information resources like Purchasing, Machine Design, Design News and ThomasNet, these resources cover a wide range of manufacturing methods and materials, with anything metal casting-related often lost. The focus of Metal Casting Design & Purchasing is solely on metal castings and how they may be a better solution for your customers than forgings, fabrications, stampings and/or plastics. This message is clear and it hits home.

Our staff is proud of what we have achieved in 10 years with Engineered Casting Solutions and now Metal Casting Design & Purchasing. As your partner, we are helping your operation every day with MODERN CASTING and your customer's every day with Metal Casting Design & Purchasing.

Alfred T. Spada, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

If you have any comments about this editorial or any other item that appears in MODERN CASTING, email me at [e-mail].