Production Outsourcing in Metal Casting-Providing a Seamless Transition from CAD to Manufacturing of Metal Parts

The purpose of this paper is to outline a new approach for production outsourcing of complex cast metal parts. The paper details the steps in providing a smooth transition from a CAD file through production. The key to this transition is the successful creation of the production tooling on the first attempt. Significantly shortened lead times and proper implementation of concurrent engineering are the consequent results.

The inability to produce production tooling (patterns and core boxes) prior to creating a first article part is the main weakness of traditional casting processes. Creating production tooling is an expensive process that requires long lead times. The foundry, in order to minimize its financial risk, seeks to avoid total fiscal responsibility for the many required steps in converting a CAD design into serial production, and therefore charges the customer accordingly.