and recognized opportunity with the diecasting company. “The new owners looked at our


books and saw that our gross profi ts were stable,” Andy Stroh said. “They had already gone through this transi- tion. It was more about minding the store during the recession.” The recession made some of Stroh


Precision’s business concerns appar- ent. The company trimmed its salaried staff. A 5S program was started on the diecasting fl oor. The company hired a new general manager to help keep the operations focused. “The company had too many layers


of management,” said one of the new owners. “We needed to get it lean and more hands-on. We had to cut out the fat. The volume hasn’t changed, but the bottom line has [as a result of reducing costs].”


Entering Low Volume


Stroh Precision avoids most au- tomotive parts, instead focusing on


balancing some automotive busi- ness with military, aerospace, rec- reation, lawn and garden, and hand gun products. In 2009, nearly all markets saw


a dip in demand, but with half of domestic diecasting production com- ing from automotive suppliers, that single market had a huge effect on the industry. The aluminum, mag- nesium and zinc diecasting industry went from producing 1,657,000 tons in 2006 to 990,000 tons in 2009, while automotive diecasting production dipped from 644,000 tons in 2006 to 370,000 tons in 2009. “The companies that had a signifi cant


amount of business in the automotive industry got nailed,” Merritt said. “Com- panies that managed their business with respect to market share in automotive and other markets survived.” Stroh Precision sees its position as


a mainly nonautomotive diecasting company as an advantage. “Our industry has between 350


and 400 diecasters,” Andy Stroh said. “About 75-80% are automotive, and about 30% are nonautomotive.” Stroh Precision operates diecasting machines in the 400-900-ton range. This leaves the diecaster vulnerable to low-cost countries, according to Andy Stroh, because you can ship a lot of castings in boxes at that size. “We are looking for low-volume jobs


that really need precision casting,” he said. “With lower volumes, we need to focus on quicker setup and start up.” To that end, Stroh Precision is ex-


amining how to speed up its tooling changes to be more effi cient and better equipped to go after those jobs. “The customer base for smaller or-


ders includes customers that haven’t had a diecasting before, don’t have avenues into globalization and as an alternative have been using gravity casting or a machining process,” Mer- ritt said. “They want to reduce their overall cost. So even though they may be hit with steep capital costs


Twin City Die Castings Partners


a strategy to stay diversifi ed while still earning 50% of its sales from the automotive industry. “We target automotive at 50% and


T


have done a good job at keeping that number there,” said Todd Olson,


win City Die Castings, Minneap- olis, an aluminum, magnesium and zinc diecaster, has made it


director of sales and marketing. “We have to pursue new markets when we get to the edge on automotive.” Using rapid tooling, the company


has introduced new customers to the diecasting process through low volume


orders. A recent aerospace customer re- ceived a part from Twin City Die Castings that saw a return on investment with less than 400 pieces. The 2.3-lb. aluminum enclosure converted from machined ingot recently was honored in the North American Die Casting Association’s an- nual casting competition (Fig. A). Twin City Die Castings made the cast die in a little more than eight weeks. “We try to separate ourselves from


the crowd by doing things other diecast- ers can’t,” Olson said. Twin City Die Castings has found that


its customers have cut back so much on the engineering side that any help the diecaster can give on part design is valued. “We try to get involved in the design


up front with the customer,” Olson said. “Rather than take costs out of our margin, we show them how we can take the cost out of making the part.” One recent example is a heat sink


Fig. A. Twin City Die Castings used rapid tooling technologies for this aluminum enclosure. The customer saw a return on investment with 400 pieces.


24 MODERN CASTING / September 2010


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