Most castings BAF purchases are diecast aluminum, but some pieces with thin walls or that require chrome plating, like the switchplate here, are diecast in zinc.
restaurants and now even homes. BAF has used cast metal compo- nents in a variety of its products from its inception, and use has grown and evolved as the company has grown and evolved. All the while, the fan maker has stuck to its original principles of pushing R&D and sourcing compo- nents locally. “Tere are a lot of benefits [to rely-
ing on locally-made components]— supporting local economies, less waste and all that,” Smith said. “But quality control is our biggest reason. We as- sign a quality control engineer to each one of our suppliers to make sure the components they make match our strict design requirements. We work closely with suppliers as we develop new products and, in the rare case that an issue arises, it’s simply easier and quicker to work with a local supplier than an overseas supplier. Te closer they are, the more agile they are.” Sean O’Brien is a purchaser at
BAF who has been with the company for eight years—through the major growth spurt. He works with upwards of 250 machine shops, metal fab shops, robotic welders, plastic injection
molders, metalcasters, screw shops and metal spinners. “We have a very good relationship with our current suppliers,” O’Brien said. “We lean on them pretty hard for new product introduction, but we get them involved early for their advice on designing the part.” BAF basically created a market for itself in large industrial fans, so it is creating new technology, applications and standards for the air movement industry. It has dedicated R&D facilities creating and performing standardized tests regarding aspects like airflow and sound. Business development staff identify customer needs, and engineering finds solutions to meet those needs—and quickly. BAF assembles its fans, but all other manufacturing processes are through outside suppliers, and they need to be onboard with the speed, flexibility and quality that has given BAF an edge over its competitors. “We move fast, so complexity and
confidence in the process are impor- tant to us,” said Richard Oleson, senior design engineer. “I personally have a fondness for casting. You can create
20 | METAL CASTING DESIGN & PURCHASING | Jan/Feb 2016
a lot of details and I know what the part is going to be at the finish. Other processes, you have to put a lot of bolts and pieces together.” When it comes to deciding what
manufacturing method will be used to create a component, the product de- velopment team looks at the material and process that would best fit the task it has to perform from cosmetic and functional standpoints. “We don’t do primary processing
here. It sounds like a weakness but it leaves us completely free to choose the process that fits the applications, rather than sticking with the process that is on the shop floor,” Oleson said. Diecasting, which is the cast- ing method most often used in BAF products, holds advantages of quality, detail and cost benefits for high volume production over other metal forming processes, and its surface finish is ideal for cosmetic applications. As Oleson explains, when fabricating with sheet metal, the material is pressed into a shape that is harder to keep within tight dimensional tolerances. “You design a part, but the fabrica- tor will take a flat sheet of metal and
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