Acuity works with several cast-
ing sources, including a vendor in Saltillo, Mexico, to procure cast iron components. “We determine our source based
on tooling cost and lead time cost,” Davis said. T e tooling engineer works with Acuity’s central sourcing group to make the decision. T e role of Acuity’s in-house metalcasting facility in the production of rapid custom jobs has made it a more frequent choice. “When I came to corporate
headquarters in Georgia, some or our people didn’t know we had a foundry,” Davis said. “Now that they do, a lot of tools and processes have been migrat- ed down to Matamoros. It makes more sense to feed ourselves, if you will.” T e casting facility might have been a little known secret at Acuity Brands 10 years ago, but its existence helped kick off Davis’ rapid tooling idea into fruition within six months. “We are defi nitely ahead of
the game, and we rely a lot on our foundry,” Davis said. He believes it would have taken considerably longer working with an outside vendor. “I am sure this was disruptive to the
casting supplier because it’s diff erent,” Davis. “Could it have been done [with an outside supplier]? Yes, but not in a comfortable amount of time.” With work picking up, the facility in Matamoros has acquired three new CNC machines in the last three years. Acuity also is considering adding diecasting to the sand and permanent mold casting processes in Matamoros for higher volume production. “T ey (the workers at Matamoros)
see the factory as fi nally growing up,” Davis said.
“
The fi nial and roof frame castings for this street lamp were made using tooling produced with the aid of a 3D printer.
For every custom opportunity, new tooling is required. Who’s going to absorb that? [With the new method] the tooling cost went from the standard $10,000 to basically the cost of the plastic.—ROBERT DAVIS
@
ONLINE RESOURCE
For more information on rapid tooling, as well as an audiocast with Robert Davis, design en- gineer for Acuity Brands, go to
www.metalcastingdesign.com.
Nov/Dec 2012 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | 25
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