not prepared to meet. You must understand your suppliers and their capabilities so you do not give them work they cannot complete on time. Delivery is likely to be the number one prob-
lem facing most metalcasting facilities, and these problems can take the longest to turn around. When dealing with a delivery problem, examine the role you are playing in it. Is the volume of work you are placing too large, creating a capac- ity issue? Are the requested lead times within the capabilities of the casting source? Is the on-time delivery window large enough to give the supplier a reasonable opportunity to succeed? To give your suppliers every chance to be suc-
cessful, seek the source of the problem. Some buy- ers develop a spreadsheet that tracks all open orders. Te sheet can be used jointly by the buyer and supplier to track the weekly progress of the orders via confer- ence call. Te weekly report can track progress throughout the casting process, including all the operations from molding and pouring to cleaning room and shipping. Tese calls will help discover where the reoccurring problems are taking place and provide insight to the supplier, making the correction easier. In the event the delivery issue
cannot be solved by examining process flows via conference call, a formal recovery plan should be signed and delivered by a senior member of the supplier’s execu- tive staff. Te formal recovery plan should include the root cause, action items needed to solve the problem and a timeline to com- plete the items. Tis level of own- ership of the problem will assure the issue has reached the highest levels of the organization and offer the best chance for success. Another benefit to this auditing
process is that you will learn more about the metalcasting process by discovering how your part progresses through it. Tis can be helpful to those without existing knowledge of the casting process.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bob Mueller Jr. is casting procure- ment specialist for mining equipment producer P&H Mining Equipment, Milwaukee. He worked in the met- alcasting industry for 23 years before moving into purchasing.
Quality issues are a different problem. Every met-
alcaster has its share of quality issues, but some do not go away. Again, make sure you are not contributing to the problem by placing work with suppliers that do not have the technical expertise to properly manu- facture the components. Each metalcasting facility has its particular niche that you must understand to ensure your work is with the correct supplier. Even when you do your homework and select
the correct metal casting supplier, quality issues will still play a role in the relationship. Te abil- ity of the metalcaster’s engineering and quality departments to properly diagnose and establish the root cause of the problems will dictate if the problem is short lived or a constant difficulty.
Tooling must be handled and maintained properly to produce quality castings. METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING / 2012-13 Metalcaster Prospectus 7
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