In the automotive industry, metal casting is a process through which molten material is injected into a mold that contains a template. The product formed from this process has excellent properties such as dimensional accuracy and surface finish. However, companies that want to produce large quantities of products with the same characteristics must cooperate with suppliers who have experience producing these items. In turn, these suppliers can offer high-quality services and give helpful advice regarding production methods. To begin with, here are five features of a reputable metal casting firm.
1) Experience
The most important factor that separates good companies from the best is experience. That does not mean they need to have years of service history or even decades of metalworking experience. It means they’ve had plenty of time with their machines and equipment to learn every aspect of their design, engineering, and manufacturing process. That isn’t something you can find within one year, nor is it only present in very large companies. The more years’ worth of information logged into a database or storage system, the organization will be better at producing new castings.
2) Variety
A good automotive metal casting supplier should have a diverse range of products that cater to different industries and needs. While they may not have everything you’re looking for, they should at least have a wide variety of parts that they can produce regularly. That will help reduce your lead times and increase the chances of finding what you’re looking for without having to go through multiple suppliers.
3) Customer Service
No one is perfect, and even the best automotive die casting company will occasionally make mistakes. However, their customer service department separates the best companies from the rest. If something goes wrong, a good company will be quick about correcting the problem and compensating you for your time. They’ll also offer you discounts or free products to provide some compensation for any castings that don’t meet your specifications.
4) Quality Assurance
Any automotive metal casting supplier worth their salt will have a high-quality control standard within their systems. In reality, they may not even operate on a system-by-system basis. Instead, they have one quality control department that goes through every machine and process, so there’s no variation between units. That means if a part falls out of specification during a single run, then it won’t matter so much because all of your parts should still be within tolerance.
5) Speed
Reputable metal casting firms are always looking to speed up the process without sacrificing quality. That might mean investing in new technology, creating standardized processes, or even outsourcing some of the work to a partner company. However, the aim is always to minimize the lead time to get your parts sooner and start manufacturing them into products.
Further, in this highly competitive market, you can’t afford to fall behind schedule. The best suppliers will always be ready to meet your order dates with a promise of quality every time. They will need your complete CAD/CAM data and drawings as soon as possible to accomplish this objective. In addition, they must have a responsive communication channel with you throughout the project for open dialog between team members.