COST CONTROL - Nothing affects costs in a foundry like the gating.
This is rarely noticed and is not widely known. I am trained in Cost Accounting, holding a Master's in
Industrial Management. We could serve you in many areas. I have other management specialists to bring to the table.
But still, the gating affects costs in every department more than almost anything else under our control.
The gating not only dramatically affects scrap rates.
The yield and thus material and energy costs, even capital equipment costs, are also affected by the gating. Good gating
may allow lower pouring temperatures and further decrease energy costs. Robust gating makes good castings without the expense of
overly tight and expensive process tolerances. The number and size of gates and riser
contacts, even the shape and precise design, greatly affect knock-out, cut-off, grinding and other material and
labor costs of finishing.
Have you noticed the cost of PPAP? The Production Part Approval Process? I'll bet you have! A major foundry conglomerate once cited disappointing
results in their annual report as "due to the difficulty of bringing new work online". Translation: "The gating didn't work".
Let's get your stuff approved for production fast and start making money. And don't get locked into a gating system that is not cost optimized
and have the customer tell you you can't change it without going through PPAP again. Maximize the gating the first time!
I once worked on burn-in problems at a brake drum foundry literally going broke on the
cost of re-blast. Every sand expert on two continents had looked for the solution. I was brought in also to look
at the sand conditions as I have expertise in this field as well. However, the burn-in was related to poor gating and high pouring temperatures.
I did solve that problem but this foundry unfortunately went bankrupt anyway due to other poor management.
I wrote a comprehensive management report that led to the dismissal of nearly the entire team at that plant.
This is never my intent. I train by example based on experience, my metallurgical training, and also my M.B.A. (M.S.A) The cost of training your people
is far less than the cost of replacing them. Let's control your costs. Let me do some Team Building for you, solving problems and training by example.
This again, is the Synergy of Herron Casting Services.