EDITORIAL
Being Mother Teresa Isn’t the Goal W
e quote a lot of people in the pages of MODERN CASTING. Often, the quotes are conservative and unlikely to
shake anything up. But from time to time, I read a quote that makes me step back and think. Sometimes the words are inspirational. Other
times they are prophetic. In this issue, two quotes in our Metalcaster of the Year article (p. 18) on Eck Industries, Manitowoc, Wis., are just brutally
honest...and refreshing.
“We are not doing Mother Teresa kind of research. We are doing research because our customers say, ‘it would be great if we could get another 100F out of an alloy or 10 KSI in yield strength or if we could improve the toughness by 10-20%.’ Those are the things our customers are asking us to do.”
Eck was named our Metalcaster Te quote is honest and true for many metal-
casters. We are so focused on pushing our operations forward, we forget we can ad- vance by looking to the past. Just because a process or idea was successful yesterday doesn’t mean it can’t be improved today. New processes and technologies are
Just because a process or idea was successful yesterday
of the Year for its industry-leading approach to research and develop- ment. This approach has helped push aluminum alloy development in the metalcasting industry to new heights with nanoparticles, metal matrix composites, cast wrought al- loys and 200-series aluminum. This is cutting-edge materials research that helps our industry evolve into a next-generation provider of engi- neered components. While advancing aluminum technology for
doesn’t mean it can’t be improved today.
metalcasting is wonderful for the industry, Eck is benefitting greatly by being at the front of the line of the results. As the quote says, Eck isn’t going through the effort to be “Mother Teresa,” but instead to make their customers happy and increase profitability. There isn’t anything wrong with that reasoning. I wish I would hear it more often in regard to other industry initiatives, like government affairs and marketing.
“We (Eck Industries) are going to go back now and re-engineer jobs based on what we have learned. It is amazing and a little embarrass- ing that you put a job in here in 1970 and don’t change it. The industry has come a long way, and we have come a long way, but you don’t take the time to re-engineer that job because you don’t want to mess with success.”
developed and introduced every day. We must stay on top of them and look for opportuni- ties to improve every job in our facility. We are asking our customers to replace their fabricated assemblies with one- piece castings. We are asking our suppliers to improve their equipment and raw materials so they perform better. Why shouldn’t we be re-engineer- ing our manufacturing processes to yield greater profitability? When we write profile articles
like the one on Eck Industries, our goal is to provide you with a look into what makes other metalcasters successful. Te hope is you can take some of what you learn and apply it to your operation. In the case of Eck
Industries, the quotes mentioned in this column are just two nuggets to consider.
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.
June 2012 MODERN CASTING | 7
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