Casting buyers are people too.

Several times a year, I serve as an instructor for a casting design class. Typically, 20-30 casting buyers and designers--your customers--gather for this class and sit in a room for two days listening to discussions on topics ranging from casting processes and alloys to modulus of elasticity, thin and thick sections, and stress concentrations.

For the most recent class, we took the 22 students on a tour of a diecasting facility. We believed the students would relate better to the material presented in class if they could see a casting operation in action.

I often write on this editorial page about the "wow" factor of metalcasting, especially the site of pouring metal. But even I forget about people's initial reaction to the process until I am quickly reminded, by a group like these students.

Their eyes widened when we walked around and examined a 5-ft. tall die for a magnesium automotive instrument panel cast in a 4,000-ton diecasting machine. I overheard several students stating that the intricacy of the tool was more than they ever expected.

Next came a 10-minute pause in the tour as the students watched a fully-automated robotic cell produce, de-gate and trim those same instrument panels. The awe wasn't for the robotic manufacturing because automation isn't something new, but the fact that it was in a metalcasting facility surprised the students.

When we reached the machining and assembly portion of the operation, you would have thought I was touring with a group of elementary school kids; each of them couldn't wait to grab castings off of the various pallets and examine their complexities. You could see them gauging wall thicknesses and comparing geometries to parts back in their manufacturing facilities. The excitement level seemed greater among these designers than in any of the dozens of group tours I have taken with metalcasters.

The tour served as a reminder of how our metalcasting community must begin to reach out to our customers and re-introduce them to us. We must begin to wow them with what we see as ordinary, but they see as extraordinary.

What sets metalcasting apart is the process. The ability to utilize molten metal to create almost infinite geometric complexity is a powerful tool. But our customers can't understand that, nor can they graduate from the commodity-buyer mentality if they can't relate the words describing castings--alloy, process, tolerance, quality level, etc.--to the tangible image engrained in their mind when they see molten metal being poured or injected into a mold. Seeing the process brings to life terms like core, parting line and draft and allows designers to understand how they interact with the specifications they must meet in their drawings.

For some metalcasters, bringing a customer to the plant is just short of a death sentence due to the housekeeping and maintenance standards they employ. If this describes your operation, my advice is to "wake up" and embrace the 20th century. You don't need high-levels of automation to impress your customers because for many niches in our industry, that level of investment doesn't make sense. But you do need to show your customer that the molten metal being poured is done in an orderly operation with good process flow.

Remember the saying, "a picture is worth 1,000 words." When it comes to selling the capabilities of the metalcasting process, it couldn't be more true. The process of metalcasting made a lasting impression on those 22 designers--an impression that is sure to result in increased casting sales.

Alfred T. Spada, 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].