Our Foundry Partners
The cultural attributes Precision Performance Castings looks for in a foundry partner are in some ways just as important as the foundry’s technical capabilities.
We want to work with foundries that share our commitment to quality and embrace a customer-focussed culture. Generally, these have proven to be locally owned, sometimes family concerns, where the ultimate decision makers are more often than not in the room with you when you start a project. This personal connection is very important, it’s one of the reasons that our own experts spend so much time on-site at the foundries, and a significant contributor to the successes we’ve enjoyed.
Diversity from a capability and geographic point-of-view are also factors that we consider. Every foundry has procedures that are slightly different and methods that are better suited to particular projects. We need this broad range of capabilities to meet the requirements of different customers, and to ensure that there is capacity on-board for an effective dual sourcing strategy. It’s also important that our geographical spread protects production timetables from the effects of national holidays, for instance. Some of these are quite long and not generally within the planning expectations of western customers.
OUR CLOSE RELATIONSHIP WITH FOUNDRY PARTNERS IS A WIN-WIN SITUATION
We gain a foundry partner that fully understands what we expect, and the lengths we will go to in ensuring that expectation is met. The foundries gain access to great customers from throughout the world, who bring with them the prestige of world-class projects.
Our customers also benefit from these relationships, through casting excellence, production continuity and the volume discounts that we can negotiate thanks to the number of projects we bring in.
The foundry management process
Precision Performance Castings sets the standards that must be attained and maintained; from the very beginning it’s our testing and evaluation procedures that the foundry works to. These tests meet international expectations and are non-negotiable.
A daily schedule of tests is stipulated, with the results loaded online for checking and evaluation by our experts.
Regular site visits are scheduled, to coincide with particular events in a production timeline, or as a general inspection of the foundry facilities.
If necessary, our own experts will work with the foundry managers, to upskill their technicians and foundrymen on any aspects that sit outside of their existing experience. This will generally be a fine-tuning exercise, as foundries are only chosen if they already have the requisite resource and skills capability.
It’s not unusual to see a foundry significantly improve its technical ability after working with us. They are excited about the possibilities and they take pride in doing a great job.
Kannan Marannan, Metallurgist/ Quality Manager