Locating Casting Vendors
The proper identification of potential casting vendors has become more difficult as the casting industry has evolved. Foundries today have, due to economic factors, required process technology and government regulations, tended to evolve into specialists. There are very few foundries that have the ability to produce castings to meet military requirements who cast all metal alloys in all processes. The very nature of the processes required to cast specialty metals like Titanium and Superalloys have always made these foundries unique and limited in their total number. With the limited time available for you to respond to a solicitation, potential source identification and their response to your request for casting quotation is a critical element in your producing a valid, deliverable bid.
Therefore the first steps in casting source include:
- Identify required alloy and available options
- Confirm casting process that must be used or options
- Confirm and define the quality requirements (e.g., AMS 2175 Class andGrade). If an older, obsolete specification is called out (i.e. MIL-C-6021) make certain that its requirements have been properly translated into a current specification.
With this information the initial identification of a group of potential sources can be made based upon these technical factors. The other element of foundry selection is the business fit. Use of the various foundry identification resources explained in that section of this toolkit is highly recommended if you already do not have your own preferred list of capable casting vendors pre-defined and categorized by alloy and process.
