together with a competitive agreement as it transitioned to a jobbing plant to remain in business. “Traditionally, a union would not be
in favor of a flexible work environment, but in order to keep jobs local, we have to look at the way we do business to stay competitive,” said Jeff Smith, United Steel Workers president. “This team-based environment has made a very positive change for Pure Power Technologies.” As a result of the contract, the facility
is a key cog in Navistar’s clean emis- sions strategy. “One of the most important com-
ponents in the EGR valve is a casting [produced at Waukesha],” Kashanipour said. “The exhaust manifold today is not the one we had 10 years ago. It requires precision. How the manifold reacts with the EGR valve is key, and our Waukesha foundry has the expert capabilities to manufacture that.”
Value of a Captive Metalcaster Pure Power-Waukesha does not get
a free pass on Navistar jobs. It must compete in its own right on cost, quality and lead time. The truck manufacturer buys components from all around the world, and the metalcasting facility competes against those global sources for Navistar orders. “We are in it to make the right
product at the right cost at the right profit,” Kashanipour said. “If parts from Navistar are not the right parts
A worker places a core into a mold at one of the plant’s three automatic molding lines.
for Waukesha, they won’t be [made] at Waukesha. But we also may decide to do some castings at Waukesha because we want to control the technology. We’ll make some of those strategic
decisions because it’s about total cost, not just piece cost.” According to Kashanipour, Navistar
finds the greatest value in the retention of knowledge at the Waukesha casting facility, which can be reaped through the manufacturing of complex castings on-site or for troubleshooting follow- ing a failed casting attempt at another facility. For example, a pump cover produced at a supplier in India was failing at a rate of 50%. The design for the casting featured tolerances only machining could achieve, but due to a lack of communication, the error was not caught. Navistar has decided to re- source the pump cover for casting at the Waukesha plant and finish-machining at an in-house machining facility. “A process that would take 22 weeks
Green sand molds are ready to be poured. 20
to design and validate, we will be able to re-source within weeks [because it is done in-house],” Kashanipour said. “The way we keep people here knowl- edgeable about the process is to keep Waukesha [as a Navistar company]. We believe that is a huge competitive advantage to us, plus it keeps manu- facturing jobs in the U.S.”
MC MODERN CASTING / October 2010
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