Looking at 39 different part num-


bers, Dolack examined the complexity of each part (small aluminum pieces generally less than the size of a foot- ball), how they differed from one another, whether they would require special tooling with “slides” to create undercuts and hollow passages, and how many pieces could be poured at one time on a diecasting machine of a given size., some parts would have to be run one at a time (single cavity); others could be two-on, three-on or more. The more pieces Peerless could do at once, the more economical the process would be. After performing the analysis,


Dolack was sure Peerless could compete with low cost suppliers. So he and a team struck out to find the equipment they would need. The team literally hopped in a van and drove around the country to various auctions looking for used equipment priced appropriately to make the venture happen. They found two 600-ton die casting


machines, two trim presses, two bake ovens, a vibratory tunnel, a tumble-style shot blast machine and four CNC machin- ing centers. For the most part, the ma- chines needed only slight refurbishment to make them production ready. “We couldn’t have asked for a bet-


ter time to be looking,” Dolack said. “So many of us diecasters had gone out of business that the equipment available was really [inexpensive].” (An internal analysis of the industry indicates about 460 diecasters are operating in the U.S. today.) To install the equipment, Peerless set


aside about 5% of the 318,000 sq. ft. it is currently using at the manufacturing facility it moved into last May. The com- pany then staffed the operation with six employees (more than 500 work at the manufacturing plant as a whole), and since it launched the operation with no service interruption, it has realized sav- ings between 10-20% compared to off- shore production, depending on the part. It has also added several new employees to the diecasting operation. “We hired the consultant (Dolack)


full time and started diecasting slowly,” Potts said. “We went from no diecasting to diecasting, heat treating, blasting and machining in-house.”


Engineering Expertise Dolack doesn’t believe there should


24 Metal Casting Design anD PurChasing January/February 2011


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