My couch is available.

Tell me about your industry.

I am invoking the mentality of a psychiatrist in an attempt to open up a forum for communication for our MODERN CASTING readers. While communication is critical to success in most any venture, even more critical is the type and level of that communication.

I have the opportunity to gather in rooms with many different types of metalcasters and hear different discussions about the obstacles facing our industry. Sometimes good ideas on how to overcome the obstacles are presented, but they are often left for dead when everyone leaves the room. We, the North American metalcasting industry, are at the point that we can't let any ideas die. We must take every opportunity to look inside ourselves and honestly discuss what is wrong with our industry and how we must fix it.

My goal is to open a forum for metalcasters where anything and everything can be said about our industry (assuming it is constructive and relevant). We must begin to take a hard look at ourselves and be honest, because our customers, our competition and our regulators only see black and white. We must spark some frank discussion of realistic ideas so today's metalcasters and metalcasting suppliers continue to improve their approach to business to enable their firms to achieve greater prosperity while working in the best interests of the entire metalcasting industry.

Some of you will argue that the best interests of an individual firm and the best interests of the entire metalcasting industry don't always align and your first allegiance must be to your firm. I would argue that most of the time they do align. Some metalcasters just look at short-term or immediate opportunities to boost their firms, as opposed to looking at the long-term ramifications to their business.

Long-term strategic planning by individual firms almost always provides positive results to both the metalcaster and the industry as a whole. In addition, as the industry improves, dividends continue to be returned to individual firms because the more positively the industry is viewed, the more positively the firms in it will be perceived.

So, how do we begin to be frank with each other? I suggest you write me an email at [e-mail] discussing the single greatest area our industry must begin to improve. I can then lend a megaphone to your ideas by presenting them (with or without your name) to our MODERN CASTING community so the entire metalcasting industry takes notice. And, that is ultimately what we want--a frank community discussion.

I have begun a similar effort with our sister publication, Engineered Casting Solutions, and its casting buyer and designer audience. Our Letterbox department this month (p. 11) provides some of the comments we received when I asked your customers to tell me how their casting suppliers could be more helpful.

Our industry must begin to take a hard look at itself and determine what is broken and/or needs a tune-up.

Providing an honest assessment is never easy, but without critical analysis, we are only spinning our wheels. We need to be proactive and moving forward to take on our customers, competition and regulators.

Alfred T. Spada, Editor-in-chief