As is often the case, I am on a plane thinking about foundries and my customers. I spent this week in Germany for GIFA 2011. This is my first trip to GIFA although I have attended many, many foundry trade shows.
Was this one different?
Not really. There were a few redeeming features. Probably the most pleasurable was
the fact that you could look at a booth, a piece of equipment, or read literature and not feel like you were getting mugged in a booth. I have to say that this was really nice. There is a level of respect in the halls of GIFA that simply allow attendees to learn about what they came to learn. If you asked for help or asked questions, the booth attendees helped well. In a few cases, it was actually a little tough to get help, even in not so busy booths, but this was rare. Overall, the companies presenting gave you space but answered and questions that you may have honestly.
There was a lot of equipment demonstrated. This is a true equipment show. Of course, there were many exhibitors without equipment, but for the most part, if you are there to view equipment, someone in the specialty of what you are looking for has something.
Very redeeming things… technology. I am pleased to tell you that you, our customers, as compared to the “latest” equipment out there are up on your technology. From time to time I have a fear that the U.S. foundry market is losing its edge in technology. Well, a sand mixer is still and sand mixer, a melter is still a melter. While there was some advanced technology at this show, over all, the equipment and processes presented are still punch you in the mouth, straight up foundry equipment. In fact, I think that the equipment available to you in the U.S. market is still the world’s best. I am actually a little surprised by this but pleasantly surprised. You guys are certainly keeping up.
One area I looked closely at was robotics (since we make robotic patternless molding equipment and robotic finishing equipment). Well, I wish I had a booth on robotic molding. There was no one there presenting. There was quite a bit of robotic finishing and none of it was very new. However, in the area of robotic inspection there was a lot. Very cool technology that looked cost effective was readily available. Inspection included visual, x-ray, magnetic, and even dye pen. Probably the best looking technology was in the area of photographic visual inspection and dimensional inspection. Hole sizes, roughness, surface irregularities, and the like look to be pretty easy to inspect now.
Another item was what I would call “smart” band saws for smaller aluminum castings. Very simple, and what looked to be cost effective solutions, are coming out that will save hundreds of fingers around the world. These were not robotic systems, but programmable tables. Worth taking a look at if you run an automatic molding machine.
Die casting. If you are ever looking for a die casting machine, this show is a must!!!! I was amazed at the number of high quality options available in one room.
Induction melting. I will readily admit that this is an area in which we are looking for a product line to sell. There were probably at least a dozen manufacturers there. Thankfully, I have friends from around the world that helped guide my process of selection, and I would keep your eyes open on this. There are some very solid manufacturers out there. We will see how they stack up pricewise in the U.S. but I think that there are some good new options coming to the U.S. soon.
Molding. In both no bake and greensand categories, it looks like the U.S. is running at the head of the line. You are not missing out on anything out there that will advance you. There was probably a dozen no bake manufacturers represented at GIFA and none of you are missing a thing. Buy U.S. made. Buy heavy duty. Buy reliable equipment from reliable people and you will be fine. You are not missing out by not considering European equipment.
Greensand. I did see some nice Western European greensand mixing and preparation equipment. There look to be some solid options to compete in the area of mullers (yes, real mullers) and dryers. We will be posting more on this subject in further articles as we gather further information. We found some very heavy duty and basic machinery that the U.S. could use a look at. Once again, buy good stuff and buy from good people.
Blast. Lots of manufacturers but what it looks like to me is that everybody spins a wheel and slings shot at a casting. There are many good U.S. based and U.S. available companies. Buy from good people that will back up their machines, buy the right type of machine for your application, and you will be fine. If we can help, let us know.
If I haven’t covered a topic that you would like to hear about, just email me at lwhite@delsolservices.com and I will be happy to let you know what I saw.