EDITORIAL
Investment Creates Opportunity, Large and Small
W ith the 44th Census of World Casting
Production completed (see the feature on p. 23), we can see that global cast- ing production fell 14% from 2008 to 2009. With the recession close behind
us, these figures do not come as a surprise to anyone. According to the census, the only major metalcast-
ing nations to experience growth from 2008 to 2009 were India (9%), China (5%) and Korea (3%). For the rest of the nations reporting, typical shipment data showed a 25-50% reduction. Behind the data detailed in
our annual census are the sto- ries of individual metalcasting facilities like Neenah Foundry Co., Neenah, Wis., (p. 16) and Matsuzaki Casting Industry, Aichi, Japan, (p. 44). Both of these firms have recently upgraded their facilities with new molding lines and then had to survive the expense during the global economic downturn. While the size and scope of these molding line additions are of significantly different magnitudes, both firms have used the investments as opportunities to re-engineer their facilities to be in a better position when the economy rebounds. For the globally-recognizable metalcaster Neen-
work, as well. Early growth has been in the heavy truck and agriculture markets, but the unique size and speed of the line gives the firm a leg up on the competition in a variety of larger iron casting applications. For the five-employee Matsuzaki
Two metalcasters used investments as opportunities to re-engineer their facilities to be in a better position when the economy rebounds.
Casting, improving its molding meant the replacement of an older automatic machine with a newer one. This ad- vancement was focused on increas- ing efficiencies and quality with a lower upfront investment. To compete in the global market- place, this metal- caster knows that optimizing its use of technology is critical, but it must ensure that its costs are in line with the competition. “For a small plant like us, we
need to reduce the amount of time our molding machine is down,” said Hidemi Matsuzaki, the second generation owner of the metalcasting company.
“The [new molding machine] allows us to focus on making castings with a significantly reduced upfront investment.” Both of these metalcasters saw downturns in
ah, the $54 million investment could have been its downfall during the recession, but it ultimately looks like it will be one of the key steps taken to propel it through the recovery. This is because Neenah has re-engineered its production philosophy with the new line. “There isn’t anyone who wants to go through bankruptcy,” said Bill Barrett, a former Neenah president who is now consulting with the com- pany. “But there’s a lot of excitement because much of our spending is behind us. We’ve done our spending and opened up some new markets in the process.” While the original intent of the new molding line
was to produce only municipal castings, Neenah is capitalizing on the expanded capacity of the large flask molding line to boost its non-municipal
MODERN CASTING / December 2010
production during the recession. But both also re- engineered their capacity during the downturn to take advantage of the demands that would surface as the economy rebounds.
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.
7
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60