EDITORIAL
An International Engagement A
delegation of government officials and metalcasters from South Africa recently visited our offices. Te group was trying to
develop a roadmap for their metalcasting industry. Tey believe the future of their economy is in manu- facturing, and they want metalcasting to be at the heart of the effort. To build their roadmap, the South Africans
are looking for a country to emulate. Before their pilgrimage to the U.S., they sought the opinions of experts across the globe on what casting industries they should consider as mentors. Tey heard strong support for Germany, Japan and China, but they said they were surprised a louder endorsement for the U.S. wasn’t offered. Many of their government statistics pointed them to the U.S. And it was, in fact, the country from which a lot of South Africa’s innovation had emigrated. But the experts ques- tioned the choice to come to the U.S. After their visits, the South African delegation
said they indeed made the correct choice in visit- ing the U.S. According to the delegation, the U.S. offers the strongest combination of metalcasting- specific education and training, research and development, technical competence, produc- tion strength, diversity in capabilities and con- sistency in quality. While we all know this to be true, the fact that the delegation didn’t initially receive this message from the international com- munity is disturbing. Obviously, our public relations machine is broken, and we are feeling the effects of a lack of strong interna- tional engagement by the industry in the last 20 years. Tis lack of engage- ment is understandable. We were being assaulted by foreign competition from Mexico, Brazil, China and India (to name a few), and we were forced into a defensive position to hold off the low-cost competi- tion that grew its market share from meeting 7% of casting demand in 2007 to 23% in 2007 (ac- cording to statistics from the American Foundry Society). Our customers were shouting from the rooftops about the merits of our foreign competitors,
to survive this wave of pressure, the playing field appears to be leveling off. Te tidal wave that pushed everything to low-cost competitors is now a wave pool flowing in both directions. Tis is the way it should be, and this will allow you to engage in the international marketplace on even terms. Evidence that we are
According to a South African delegation, the U.S. offers the strongest combination of met- al casting-specific education and training, research and
development, technical com- petence, production strength, diversity in capabilities and consistency in quality.
more comfortable with the state of our market was everywhere at last month’s GIFA trade fair in Dusseldorf, Germany. Although they are the world’s largest metalcasting ex- hibitions, recent GIFA events hadn’t seen a strong contingent from North America. Tis year, I can report that our domestic metalcast- ing industry came out in force to inspect the technology on display, network with colleagues from across the globe and set the direction for their businesses. Tis level of engage-
ment excites me about our future, and it will allow us to maintain
our throne as a leading global metalcasting industry.
requiring us to reach ridiculous price levels without a level playing field for quality or delivery. We were being shoved into partnerships with foreign firms to maintain customers. We weren’t driving our own businesses. Our actions were being dictated by customers that didn’t have our best interests at heart. As it appears today, they didn’t have their own best interests at heart, either. For those of you who were able
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.
July 2011 MODERN CASTING | 7
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