Most castings BAF purchases are diecast aluminum, but some pieces with very thin walls or that require chrome plating, like the switchplate here, are diecast in zinc.
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 qual- ity control is our biggest reason. We assign 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 8 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
26 | MODERN CASTING January 2016
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 facili- ties creating and performing standard- ized tests regarding aspects like airflow and sound. Business development staff identify customer needs, and engi- neering finds solutions to meet those needs—and quickly. BAF assembles its fans, but all other manufacturing processes are through outside sup- pliers, 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 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 development team looks at the mate- rial 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 casting method most often used in BAF products, holds advantages of qual- ity, detail and cost benefits for high volume production over other metal forming processes, and its surface fin- ish is ideal for cosmetic applications. As Oleson explains, when fabricat- ing with sheet metal, the material is pressed into a shape that is harder to keep within tight dimensional toler- ances. “You design a part, but the fab- ricator will take a flat sheet of metal and press it into what they hope is your shape. Te material wants to spring back. Te sheet of metal has to be formed in stages and a lot depends on how the metal reacts. With cast- ing, you can make more complex
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