
Problem
An Ontario-based equipment manufacturer was seeking a new partner to produce several aluminum parts previously supplied by a sand casting supplier that was shutting down.

Solution
Our technical team determined that their required parts were good candidates for process conversion from sand casting to permanent mold casting.

Impact
Our lower piece price and higher quality will achieve a positive ROI within the first year, despite the higher tooling cost associated with the switch to permanent mold casting.
With aluminum casting, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it’s important to identify the right casting process for your parts depending on factors such as quality, performance, and volume. If it turns out that your existing casting process is not the right fit for your needs, your parts may be a good candidate for process conversion.
We were recently approached by an existing customer – Ontario-based equipment manufacturer – to explore the potential for process conversion. They had several aluminum parts being produced via sand casting, but their sand casting supplier was shutting down. Rather than seeking a new sand casting supplier, this customer wanted to find out whether we could produce the parts via permanent mold casting.
Here are the three steps for how we assessed the potential of this aluminum casting process conversion project:
1. Feasibility Assessment
The first step of any process conversion project is assessing its feasibility. In other words: is the part suited to a permanent or semi-permanent mold casting process? While not every part is right for this type of project, over the years we’ve often found permanent mold casting to be a viable alternative to sand casting.
In this case, the customer’s parts were a good fit for permanent mold.
2. Technical Review
Beyond feasibility, a process conversion project can also be an opportunity to review the part’s technical specifications and identify opportunities for optimization. This may involve assessing whether the part design can be modified to simplify it, reduce production cost, improve performance, or all three.
Our team conducted a technical review of the customer’s parts in collaboration with their engineers. For one part, we identified an undercut feature that increased its complexity and would require the use of an additional core. We discussed this with the customer’s team and determined that the undercut wasn’t necessary, so they provided an updated design.
3. Economic Analysis
Feasibility and technical improvements are one thing, but if the numbers don’t make sense, it’s difficult to make the case for process conversion. An economic analysis is therefore important to map out all the costs, savings, and breakeven points for the process conversion project.
Our analysis revealed that switching from sand casting to permanent mold casting would be a financially beneficial move for the customer. This shift would yield a positive ROI within the program’s first year, with continued benefits projected over the program’s estimated 10-year lifespan.
When Process Conversion Makes Business Sense
For this customer, process conversion from sand casting to permanent mold casting proved to be an attractive opportunity.
As an existing customer, they already knew they were happy with the quality of the other parts we were producing for them. So for these new parts, the opportunity to benefit from a simplified design and achieve a positive ROI within 10 months made their decision to move forward with process conversion an easy one.

If you’re looking for a trusted partner to help you assess whether process conversion can provide you with higher quality aluminum parts and a better ROI, please contact us.