Industrial study of cast part development

The European foundry industry is facing an increasing cost pressure coming from low-cost countries. Because European manufacturers cannot compete with production costs, they have to find other means. The authors believe that European foundries can improve their competitiveness by providing designing cooperation to their customers. 70 - 80 % of the production costs are determined already in the design phase. If the supplier is involved in the product development, the potential benefits can be remarkable both to the supplier and the customer. This study concentrates on the cast part development process. The first aim was to find how a cast part is developed, what the contribution of different actors (foundry, customer, pattern maker) is and what kind of designing cooperation occurs. The second goal was to find what kind of designing cooperation customers want and foundries can provide. To gain the information, semi-constructed interviews were held in a Finnish foundry, in two cast utilizing companies and in a pattern shop.