Inside ICI


Reflections By Joseph E. Fritz – Executive Director


does not mean we should not look back at the year just closed. It is appropriate that we pause to reflect on the prior year from both a business and a personal standpoint. After all, the industry is comprised of the people.


A Of course, this issue of INCAST


Magazine is dedicated to the year in review and a look forward to the year to come. We are very lucky to have articles from a number of contributing authors from around the world, each addressing the factors which have shaped and molded their corner of the industry.


I am personally appreciative of our


Members and the customers who are willing to speak freely about market performance and outlook in their particular sectors. I truly enjoy these conversations, making my annual article on the North American Investment Casting Market a pleasure to compile.


There is a lot more to reflect on than


how the market has performed. How we perform as the people that make up that industry is equally important, and looking back on 2018 I find example after example of how our Member Volunteers, supported by the ICI staff, have worked to benefit the industry. The following are a few examples.


4 ❘ January 2019 ®


nother year seems to have flown by and we already find ourselves in the throes of 2019, but that


Atlas of Casting Defects After the successful launch of the web- based Atlas of Casting Defects in 2017, Members had expressed the need to develop a LAN based version, as a number of our Member foundries do not have web access on their shop floors. This new tool was released early in 2018, under the guidance of the Publications Committee led by Julie Markee of Key Process Innovations. Over the course of the year, a Subcommittee of this group, led by Russ Gallagher of Bescast, Inc., has been working on the Atlas of Wax Defects. The new Atlas will ultimately be incorporated into both the Web and LAN versions of this engineering resource.


Regional Meetings In addition to the Certification Course in Investment Casting, the Education Committee held two regional meetings in 2018, with the hopes of conducting three in 2019. The first was held in Akron, OH, featuring a site tour of Kovatch Castings, Inc., and the second was held in Carson, CA, which was highlighted by a tour of FS Precision Tech. Many thanks to Doug Kovatch and Juan Molina for opening their foundries to our Members, and to Guardian Software Systems for sponsoring the Akron event.


Process Control Seminar After two years of diligent effort, the Process Control Seminar made its


return to the ICI’s education portfolio with the first seminar being held in Cleveland, OH last November. An Education Subcommittee, comprised of Andy Bomberger (Tech Cast, LLC), Julie Markee (Key Process Innovations), Sarah Mosher (NALCO Water – An Ecolab Company) and Mark Oles (Hitchiner Manufacturing), redesigned the program, making it a hands on learning experience using real world examples. The seminar will be offered again in early 2019.


Process Control Certification One of the objectives of the Technical Committee is the development of process control standards for investment casting foundries and a corresponding certification program. The Process Control Standards Subcommittee has made great strides in developing the certification program, which will be evaluated at a Member foundry early this year. The core team developing this program are comprised of Nip Singh (S&A Consulting Group LLP), Craig Lanham (Member Emeritus), Thad Nykiel (Bescast, Inc.), Brian Ferg (CPP), Tom Planz (Kovatch Castings, Inc.), Len Ceriotti (Wisconsin Precision Casting Corporation) and Doug Marion (MCM Precision Castings, Inc.). Many thanks to all, especially to Bescast and S&A Consulting for hosting so many of the team’s monthly meetings.


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