Looking at 39 different part numbers,
Dolack examined the complexity of each part (small aluminum pieces gen- erally less than the size of a football), 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, Dol-
ack 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 appropri- ately to make the venture happen. They found two 600-ton die cast-
ing machines, two trim presses, two bake ovens, a vibratory tunnel, a tumble-style shot blast machine and four CNC machining centers. For the
most part, the machines 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 savings between 10-20% compared to offshore 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 be any dearth of casting knowledge at OEMs. With so many metalcasters out of work, the right help is easy to find. “Call my brother,” Dolack joked. And while bringing the whole pro-
cess in-house might not be practical for every end-user of castings, Dolack said the collaboration between Peerless and its diecasting personnel has been a success in its own right. “I give the casting-friendly aspect to
a part,” Dolack said. “I am able to say, ‘okay, maybe if we can make this hole a little bit bigger or put a little bit of taper here, it would make it easier to cast or cut some machining out.’ I try to help them make a more functional part that is diecasting friendly and requires less handling and fewer operations to make.” According to Potts, the diecast parts
the company makes have already im- proved over the versions produced by low-cost suppliers. “When we came out with the next generation, we made the castings thinner because we had more expertise about
28
MODERN CASTING / February 2011
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