“You’d be amazed at the A
risto Cast has a reputation for successfully tack-
ingenuity of the people we have here.”—Jack Ziemba
ling challenging casting projects. Te Almont, Mich., job shop’s customers count on quality ferrous and nonferrous castings with the added benefit of a supplier relationship built on collaborative innovation. Our annual “Metalcaster of the Year”
award goes to a firm that exemplifies the best of North American metalcast- ing. Aristo Cast is this year’s recipi- ent for continuously conquering new challenges on behalf of its customers. Tis established job shop often deliv- ers investment castings thought to be impossible and works closely with its clients to achieve their goals. “You’d be amazed at the ingenuity of the people we have here,” said owner Jack Ziemba. Te company consists of about 40 empowered problem solvers who meet daily to discuss the invest- ment casting work moving through the facility. Open communication is strongly encouraged, ideas are actively sought, and the flexibility to meet fluc- tuating customer needs mid-production is taken as a matter of course. “Casting quality and turnaround
time are the two major reasons we go with Aristo Cast,” said Micron Precision Machining’s Eric Jacob. Te Saginaw, Mich., customer supplies Tier One automotive companies as well as end users in aerospace, defense and the medical market. “We’re not a high volume shop. We do custom one-off pieces up to two or three hundred,” he said. A recent project involved convert- ing a sand cast and machined alumi- num steering assist component to an investment casting (see p. 19). “We buy various types of castings, and the quality of the prototype they provided was heads and shoulders
above everybody else. Timing was spot on and it was very well accepted by our customer,” said Jacob. His team works directly with Aristo Cast’s engineers through onsite and virtual meetings, ensuring casting designs that match both the end use and the optimal manufacturing process. Ziemba has been involved in invest-
ment casting for more than 50 years. He credits Gene Malinowski, the late co- owner of Eutectic Engineering, for get- ting him started at age 16. At Aristo Cast, he’s cultivated a skilled team of experts. “We want to be more specialized as we go, and that’s exactly where it’s opening up—the higher end, more difficult cast- ings that require a lot of experience,” he said. “Our crew is people who have done it, and our turnover is virtually zero.”
Abandon Can’t, All Who Enter Here
While investment cast-
ing production has been the name of the game since
Ziemba bought the company in 1994, the business has grown into a leader in investment casting prototypes. Approximately 45% of revenue cur- rently comes from the prototyping business, a notch above last year’s 30%. Aristo Cast was one of the first
metalcasters to purchase a wax printer in 1998—it was serial No. 005. Since then, the shop has added several more, as well as other rapid prototype machines, such as an ABS plastic printer used for durable demonstration prototypes in the early design stages. A small wax printer makes patterns for miniature investment castings such as jewelry, and another rapid machine pro- duces patterns made from crushed
Signage throughout Aristo Cast’s facilities emphasizes the company’s can-do approach to challeng- ing investment casting jobs.
June 2014 MODERN CASTING | 17
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