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Casteel Reporter
August 15, 2016
The steel casting business is a tough business in good times. In trying times like now it can be brutal for us to survive. The Casteel Commentary discusses some of the structural reasons behind our challenges and the volatility of our markets. We have good reason to be optimistic about our future but need to manage our current circumstances to survive…
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June 15, 2016
We are surviving in a rapidly changing commercial environment. Venerable foundries are closing. Senior experts are retiring. New employees are difficult to recruit, difficult to retain and difficult to understand. Customers are both less capable and knowledgeable and more demanding. Suppliers to our plants are facing the same severe conditions as we are and yet they are critical to our success. How do we move forward? What are the critical leadership needs of our plants and our industry?
May 15, 2016
For most steel foundries, the majority of their work are proprietary products. The development of the casting in conjunction with the customer has developed a particular production process and tooling that provides the components they require. Because of this we need to recognize that we are proprietary source and mutually dependent. Our customers need us to operate profitably so we can continue to reliably and quickly meet their product requirements…
March 15, 2016
The development of the future workforce is challenging in good conditions and becomes daunting in these poor times. To help, SFSA is hosting training webinars to help members train their employees. These webinars are recorded and available on our website. We also think it will be helpful to recognize Master Craftsmen in our industry. This month’s Casteel Commentary asks each SFSA member to consider nominating one of their highly skilled workers for this honor…
January 15, 2016
This month’s Casteel Commentary reviews my forecast of activity for 2015 and makes some guesses on what will happen in 2016…
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Cast Carbon Steels in Welding Procedure Specifications
October 15, 2015
Exploring the Need to Include Cast Carbon Steels in Welding Procedure Specifications - A case is made for adding cast carbon steel grades in prequalified specifications to AWS D1.1
The Casteel Commentary this month is bleak, business stinks! Business is not only poor, the prospect of improvements seem low. A good guess for the timing of improvement would be a year from now. With that in mind, we need to think through how to run our businesses to survive in the downturn while retaining the capacity to grow and prosper when business improves. The Casteel Commentary shares some thoughts on the critical issues in managing a plant in this current market…
September 15, 2015
Additive manufacturing is all the buzz in manufacturing. Steel castings are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries of additive as an enabling technology to enhance the value and utility of our products. This month’s Casteel Commentary reflects on how additive is our friend and not our competitor…
July 15, 2015
The Casteel Commentary considers the issue of Smart Manufacturing and the use of the Internet of Things, IoT. We need to let the next generation of managers and professionals add sensors, data connections and automated controls to modernize and optimize our production systems. The tools are already implemented in our personal lives and our professional activities. It is a useful investment to pursue the networking opportunities in our plants to gain the advantages for our companies…
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