EDITORIAL Going for Oohs and Ahs
Editor’s Note: Shea Gibbs was made managing editor of MODERN CASTING in 2011 after fi ve years exploring the metalcasting industry through his work with the magazine.
D
uring a 2011 tour of a mining operation that supplies sand to metalcasters, a visiting U.S. congressman
was having a blast. Heck, he even mentioned he wouldn’t mind having a turn igniting a blast. T e congressman—one of the youngest in the
legislature—repeatedly said things were “cool” and literally gasped when the tour crested a valley in which sand mining was in full eff ect. T e mining industry is rife with criticism,
much like metalcasting. Mining companies aren’t media darlings or OSHA poster children. Can the metalcasting industry elicit the same gasps from congressmen and other dignitaries this min- ing operation did? To me, a person who knew little about metal-
casting beyond cast iron pans six years ago, one of the most obvious things this industry can do to advance its cause is help people understand it. One thing my back- ground in journalism has taught me is that people like to put subjects into categories, especially when they know little about them. For journal- ists, who must be able to skim the surface of a variety of topics, this can be a necessary skill: Met- alcasting? Oh, that’s just a manufacturing method. But this leads to errors and misunderstanding. How many times have we seen the media use a cutesy headline like “Trin- ket Forged in Fire,” when the trinket was in fact cast? It may seem an insignifi cant detail to some, but because metalcasting must compete against other manufacturing processes like forging for its livelihood, this is a disservice. We must move people beyond this surface-level understanding. Sand may not be the fi rst thing that comes to mind when we think about mining, but everyone knows what mining is all about—the process by which all that cool stuff we need is pulled from the ground and made usable. Most people don’t know what metal castings are all about. You may
How many times have we seen the media use a cutesy
headline like “Trinket
Forged in Fire,” when the trinket was in fact cast?
think pump housings are the most recognizable parts in the world, but to many others, they’re just hunks of metal. When I fi rst started exploring the metalcasting industry and came across the use of metal patterns, I was confounded. Why would one company machine a metal part so some other company could make another metal part? While the answer quickly became clear (if you tried to machine every part from solid billet, you’d soon be out of time and money), it’s that rift between process and prod- uct that makes metalcasting diffi cult for the uninitiated. Fortunately, the lack of understanding is fi xable. You can start with people just joining your company. Take them to visit your customers. Show them where cast- ings are fi tted onto the equipment they use in their everyday life. Explain to them that without the effi ciency of the metalcasting process, we wouldn’t have cost-eff ective tractors to plow our fi elds, cars to transport our kids or cymbals to make our music. T en take it a step further. Make sure everyone that will listen understands metal castings are synonymous with all the recognizable equip- ment they rely on. And when you have
the opportunity to host a congressman on a
tour of your plant, you’ll get the oohs and ahs. If you don’t, invite a Republican next time.
Shea Gibbs, Managing Editor
If you have any comments about this editorial or any other item that appears in MODERN CASTING, email me at
sgibbs@afsinc.org.
February 2012 MODERN CASTING | 7
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