How can a business ensure its green efforts are paying off?  State Line Foundries has a few measuring sticks. One is sand. “We reclaim and/or reuse about 50,000 tons of sand per year,” states Jesse Milks, president of State Line Foundries. Another is iron. Castings that previously required 1,000 pounds of new material now need…

When it comes to casting sizes, State Line Foundries has what president Jesse Milks calls “a wide window.” “We’re set up to handle castings from a few ounces to 3,000 pounds,” Milks explains. “Our range is a little unique. If you look at the production of other foundries, most go up to 100 pounds, or…

An OEM had put product development on the back burner for the better part of three years. Business was booming, and keeping pace with existing orders was demanding enough. It was not a good time to begin the process of introducing a new product. But in the last few months, the manufacturer’s business slowed a…

After a few frantic years, OEMs are coming up for air and looking at the world around them – including their current suppliers. “In 2021 and 2022, casting backlogs were out 20-plus weeks for most foundries,” says Jesse Milks, President of State Line Foundries. “Foundries are still busy, but not to that degree.” The frantic…

Do you want to avoid pre-production delays with your iron castings? It will save you countless hours, added cost and frustration. That’s the message of Jesse Milks, President of State Line Foundries. “Often, between the time that we first quote a job until we start working on it, the PPAP requirements may change significantly. That…

The majority of the castings State Line Foundries produces are used in unglamorous but vital products like industrial pumps, mining equipment and military vehicles. When the foundry recently had the opportunity to take on a unique decorative castings project for a major American city, it was a perfect opportunity to expand its range of work.…

The last two years have been a white-knuckled roller coaster ride for OEMs. From the pandemic and supply chain challenges to labor shortages and a huge demand spike, it feels like it’s been a battle for survival. Things don’t seem to be getting any easier, either.  Perhaps it’s time to consider reshoring your most critical…

Moving tooling from one foundry to another is often a complex undertaking. There are many variables involved, including the condition of the tooling, adapting it to the new foundry’s processes and much more. An excessively worn tool may no longer be able to produce parts that meet the OEM’s specifications. A worn pattern or core…

Selecting a foundry to cast your ductile and gray iron parts requires a surprising amount of due diligence. That’s because there are many variables to consider in mold design, part design and casting processes. Highly-engineered parts must meet strict tolerances, metallurgical qualities and performance characteristics. The foundries that produce them need to have well-defined, repeatable…

State Line Foundries provides OEMs and others with big foundry services in a short-line package. We specialize in short-run prototype castings, low-production castings and end-of-life service castings. What makes us unique? We offer a set of in-house capabilities that are normally only found in large casting environments, such as engineering support, mold flow analysis, pattern…

Retaining Experienced Employees Ensures High Quality, Short Lead Times The foundry industry is booming today, but that hasn’t always been the case. There were slowdowns just last year– and a full-blown recession in 2008-2009. These tough times shaped how State Line Foundries manages its workforce during industry downturns. And it’s a big reason that the…

OEMs are faced with a Goldilocks problem.  They often require a large foundry that can produce big volumes of parts, plus sophisticated services like mold flow analyses and testing. But big foundries tend to be slow-moving and inflexible, with long lead times and strict production requirements.  Short-line foundries are often much more flexible and responsive,…

State Line Foundries conducts a variety of tests internally on the iron castings it produces. For an operation of its size, this makes it unique. Many of its competitors outsource some or all their testing. Why invest in providing these capabilities in-house? Because State Line is committed to providing its customers with exceptional outcomes, such…

Inviting a foundry earlier in your design process can help you avoid many common part quality and cost challenges – and can increase your odds of launching your new product on time and budget.  OEMs often go it alone for the entire part design process and then put it out to bid just before they…

Large OEMs in the agriculture and construction industries need a high volume of castings to keep their manufacturing lines humming and their customers’ machines working in the field. Yet there are still key roles for smaller, specialized foundries to play in that world. For State Line Foundries, that often means involvement at the first and…

In the foundry industry, one of the most important indicators of success is first-pass yield.  If it’s high, customers can count on receiving excellent quality castings on a timely basis. If it’s low, they can expect delays, cost overruns, casting quality issues and other problems.  Thanks to its exceptional people, processes and technology, State Line…

As far as foundry customers are concerned, the more seamless the process, the better. Meeting their timeliness and quality expectations doesn’t hurt, either. State Line Foundries delivers on all counts when castings require heat treatment.  “Heat treating isn’t something everyone gets excited about, but it’s important,” acknowledges State Line president Jesse Milks. It’s often a…

An OEM has a great deal of incentive to stick with a foundry. In most cases, finding a new supplier is expensive and disruptive. The foundry, of course, wants to stay in the OEM’s good graces – to not only retain the business but to grow it whenever possible. Therefore, both the OEM and foundry…

The crew at State Line Foundries is very familiar with these emergency scenarios: A warehouse employee has discovered, to his dismay, an empty shelf. An overseas shipment is finally located and … is still overseas. A production manager takes a hard look at the limited number of castings in the supply chain and fears his…

What’s the best material to use for your pattern tooling? That depends on numerous factors, including estimated annual usage (EAU), the geometry of the part and the durability required.  Helping customers work through the trade-offs of material, cost and lead times is something that State Line Foundries’ sales manager and estimator Dave Murphy does intuitively…

Look for a choppy 2020 to turn into a slow rebound during the first quarter of 2021, followed by accelerating growth throughout the rest of the year. Watch for State Line Foundries’ long-term approach to pay dividends, predicts the company’s president, Jesse Milks. “We’re well-positioned to take on additional business – quickly – when things…

Does your foundry conduct a castability analysis of new and existing parts? It’s an opportunity to identify tweaks to your casting design that can save you a significant amount of time and money. It can also improve the quality of your parts. State Line Foundries relies on proven processes to help maximize castability and provide…

When failure isn’t an option: Pump manufacturers know how much is at stake when their products are at work in the field. Pumps support underground mining and tunneling operations, firefighting, commercial sprinkling systems, wastewater, the oil and gas industries and other critical, high-performance applications. Pump manufacturers looking for casting partners need to be certain that…

Few foundries take on defense contractor-related work. It’s easy to see why. “The requirements for suppliers are pretty intense,” explains Jesse Milks, president of State Line Foundries, which pours iron castings for a variety of military products. Milks says the specifications provide a point of comparison between castings destined for military versus private-sector applications. “With…

Companies of all shapes and sizes – and across all industries – describe themselves as “always putting the customer first.” But the reality is often quite different. Businesses often fall short in this critical area, straining customer relationships and sometimes damaging them beyond repair. According to research conducted by Accenture Interactive, B2B buyers today aren’t…

Joel Yates is the definition of an expert – multiple consulting engagements, an advanced degree in metallurgy, decades in the foundry business, a teaching gig at a local college. When a high-end pump manufacturer needed to outsource a large number of castings, it turned to Yates as its key consultant. And the solution Yates found?…

Iron that is nearly as strong and abrasion resistant as steel – and less expensive What if you could create iron castings that are nearly as strong as steel, and more manufacturing friendly? What if the iron was so strong you could use it to cast complex shapes and redesign multi-part assemblies into a single…

When you need a quick delivery or complex, technically challenging castings produced, where can you turn? Most large, automated foundries shy away from such projects, preferring to focus on the “sure thing” of high-volume, low-cost commodity castings to keep their large pouring infrastructure busy. On the other end of the scale, most small “mom-and-pop” foundries…

If you don’t have the right foundry partner, transferring tooling can be like trying to cross a minefield while blindfolded. Your odds of success are likely to be very low. But an experienced foundry can help you get through the process smoothly, so you can be back in production with a minimum of hassle. “Moving…

If you’re seeking a foundry to produce prototype castings using gray, ductile or austempered ductile iron, you ought to consider State Line Foundries as a potential partner. Our two foundries offer a unique set of capabilities that make them an ideal place to get fast turnarounds on high-quality prototype castings. Here’s why. If you need…

Whenever two companies join forces, the hope is that the new whole will be greater than the sum of its parts – that their synergies will enable them to deliver a more comprehensive set of solutions to their joint customers. But sometimes, the hoped-for efficiencies never materialize – or take a long time to realize.…