growing our market share.”
Through the Spyglass After the success it’s
had in several replace- ment parts markets, Astech now is focused on other end-users. The company believes it can take what it has learned from wear part making and apply it in the world of general casting. According to Kihn, doing
the work of pirates requires more than brute strength and natural seaworthiness. It requires engineering finesse. Astech has become an expert at reverse engineering, to the point where it takes for granted that it can recreate any part it lays its hands on. “We find the intricacies and research
the metalcaster will design a CAD model and send it to its rapid prototyping provider, which uses a 3-D printing machine to build a sand mold layer by layer. The company then ships the mold to As- tech, and the metalcaster pours it just as it would a mold created with traditional tooling. The finished product is a prototype metal casting indistinguishable from a pro- duction part. Astech also has become
Astech’s value-added services include machining, nondestructive test- ing, heat treating, hard-facing and assembly.
the purpose of the part and build a 3-D model,” Kihn said. “We find the fit and function of the part and make sure it works in the application before we pro- duce it. Then, we use rapid prototyping to prove out the tooling.” The company employs a sand printing provider to
produce patternless samples for many of its new replacement wear parts, and it has begun to do the same on new general casting contracts. According to Kihn, Astech can com-
plete the entire process—from reverse engineering to first article delivery—in as little as 10 days in some cases. If the customer requires a short lead time,
proficient in conversions to casting, finding components produced by OEMs in alter- nate manufacturing processes and converting them to metal castings. About 20% of the
company’s products are converted from other processes. And Astech has at least one other
trick up its sleeve to give it an ad- vantage as it navigates the general casting market. In conjunction with its rapid prototyping program, the company has invested in exploring bi-metal casting, the process of cast-
MODERN CASTING / March 2010
39
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