determined more from a macro-per- spective,” Weiss said. Take the nanocomposite research.
Eck Industries’ engineers were aware of the competing theories on how to cast-in nanoparticles, and they knew improved properties could be achieved in small batches. Perhaps most importantly, they knew the market was clambering for it. T is could be the next 206, they thought. But the technical diffi culties made
the research too expensive to do alone. “It couldn’t be funded internally or
by a single customer,” Weiss said. “We actively pursued government funding.” How does Eck Industries know the
market for these improved materi- als exists? Weiss said he has seen the industry lose business to fabrications and forgings enough to know that improving the casting process through manufacturing techniques or new alloys would open a lot of doors. “If we can be on par technically, we
will usually win the price war,” Weiss said. “T ere is no question—as an industry, we have a lot of work to do. We need better alloys and better pro- cesses to satisfy customers’ [strength and weight requirements].”
Sales Equals Engineering
Weiss jokes that being vice presi- dent of sales and engineering is an odd combination. But a review of the company’s business model makes it seem like an obvious pairing. Most of Eck Industries’ marketing
comes via word of mouth. Because it is involved with the industry via its R&D projects, customers come to it with parts others say can’t be cast.
Eck Industries specializes in complex parts, such as the cylinder head for a marine application (top) and air cooled cylinder head for light aircraft shown here.
“I have heard numerous customers
say they have tried other places, and they said take that to Eck,” Weiss said. “We get references from [trade groups], and we have a little bit of a reputation in the industry that if it looks bizarre, we will be able to handle it.” It’s a reputation that goes back
to the tradition of 200-series success established by Robert Eck, Tyler’s grandfather. Eck, in combination with industry suppliers, was able to over- come the lack of silicon and low fl uidity of the alloys to produce sound castings, and customers began to take notice. “A lot of it is the fl owability of the
metal, how it acts when it cools,” said Lonnie Draheim, Eck’s pattern shop
supervisor. “Depending on the mass, you can put a riser on both sides of a section and still have shrink.” Today, Eck Industries’ core com-
petency has evolved into a variety of complex castings with high strength or soundness requirements. “We tend to work in the low to
medium volume range,” Tyler Eck said, meaning as few as one or two parts to about 3,000. “T at is where we fi t and, based on feedback from the market, where we compete the best.” Eck said market feedback can be
delayed. Because Eck Industries quotes the most diffi cult parts in the market, it sometimes doesn’t win the price war in an initial round of bids.
June 2012 MODERN CASTING | 21
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