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EDITORIAL Did You Hear the News? T


wo recent news items on metalcasting have left me dumbfounded. The items focus on URV USA building a greenfield casting facil- ity for wind turbine components in Eaton Rapids, Mich., and Ford casting the last


component at its Brook Park, Ohio, facility. According to an article on the official State of Michigan website:


“The URV USA foundry in Eaton Rapids will ultimately quadruple in size to develop a next- generation casting process that produces large, utility-scale wind turbine components,” said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. “This new technology has the potential to revolutionize the way wind turbines are made and would put URV USA on the forefront of wind technology.”


“By producing these ad- vanced process castings, URV USA can fill the void in domestic wind energy system component produc- tion critical for high volume, very high speed machin- ing processes, as well as promote job creation and clean energy infrastructure development,” said Pekka Kemppainen, URV manag- ing director.


“Day said Ben Hamper, a retired auto- worker, came up with the best description of a foundry he’s ever seen in his book, Rivethead, calling a similar plant ‘Satan’s private little bakery.’”


The article went on to describe the history of


“Both plants are a symbol of manufacturing. One plant defines the promise of the future. The other should illuminate the lack of a pro-manufacturing environment in the U.S. that is necessary to compete globally. Instead, Brook Park became another symbol of ‘hot and ditry’ metalcasting.”


The article indicates the plant is doubling its initial


plan and building an 80,000-metric ton facility that will employ 276 people. Pending financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy could push this to 160,000 metric tons with more than 500 employ- ees. The State of Michigan couldn’t be happier, the U.S. government couldn’t be happier and URV USA couldn’t be happier. Now, have a look at some quotes from a story


about Ford’s Brook Park facility from the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper:


“The casting plant was a miserable place to work—hot and dirty, it was a place where mistakes got people killed.”


“‘...In the summer months, it was absolutely brutal,’ said David Day, who worked at the casting plant from 1976 until 1983.”


MODERN CASTING / November 2010 Alfred T. Spada, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief


If you have any comments about this editorial or any other item that appears in MODERN CASTING, email me at aspada@afsinc.org.


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the casting facility and what led to Ford’s deci- sion to close it. One article is hailing the rise of new manufacturing and a greenfield casting fa- cility. The other article accepts the closing of “Satan’s private little bakery” as a sign of the times while lamenting the lost jobs for the plant workers. In a country still recovering from a reces- sion with more than 9% unem- ployment (and even higher for manufacturing), how can both of these articles coexist? Yes, politicians love new manufacturing jobs, especially those in green energy. And yes, URV USA’s plant will be brand-spanking-new with all the bells and whistles for casting manufacturing, environmental control and worker safety. But why does it deserve to be put on a pedestal while Ford’s Brook Park facility is dismissed?


Both plants are symbols of what we need for manufacturing. One plant defines the promise of the future. The other should illuminate the lack of the pro-manufacturing environment in the U.S. that is necessary to compete globally. Instead, Brook Park be- came another symbol of “hot and dirty” metalcasting. As an industry, we must continually be aware of


the negative perception society has of us to ensure that every public action we take is aimed at trying to change that perception. This is the only way we will be sure that a pro-manufacturing future (if it ever develops) will include metalcasting.


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