Why Move Your Tooling to State Line Foundries?

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 box will increase variability in the casting process. And the position of critical dimensions may not be correct.

Each casting and pattern tool is unique. Often, foundries struggle to get transfer tools into production, leading to costly delays.

State Line Foundries has an experienced staff and a highly refined process that’s designed to streamline tool transfers. It can help you improve your odds of success and eliminate some of the risks of moving patterns to a new foundry.

Here’s why you should consider moving your part production and tooling to our facilities:

Reasons to Switch Foundries

Often, State Line Foundries takes over work from customers because their previous foundry is at capacity and their lead times have become unacceptable. In today’s surging economy, many OEMs need to increase the production of their products to meet increasing customer demand. They need more castings to make this possible.

But their existing foundry may not have the capacity to accommodate this need. The OEM must either limit the production of its product or move its tooling to another foundry that can help it produce the additional parts it needs.

Another reason customers move their tooling is that the OEM is starting to experience quality issues with its current foundry. It can’t risk having critical parts fail in the field, potentially causing product liability.

Advantages of Moving Your Parts to State Line Foundries

There are several advantages to moving your castings to State Line Foundries.

First, we have an excellent track record of success with transfer tooling. We take in an average of 200 transfer tools per year and have developed deep expertise in solving problems and getting them into production quickly.

Next, State Line Foundries is committed to systems that allow us to move castings into production quickly. We use concurrent processes to streamline the setup and production of new castings. This is significantly faster than the traditional “throw it over the wall” method of moving a new casting through the setup process, one department at a time.

When it comes to your emergency casting needs, we are more accommodating than most foundries. We know that you need your parts quickly to minimize any disruptions to your production schedule. Because we have multiple melting furnaces and molding lines, we can accommodate many short lead-time requests.

Finally, State Line Foundries retains experienced and well-trained staff who are seasoned metal casting problem solvers. Many of them have worked with us for decades. Their expertise is invaluable in helping you solve most casting problems.

The Bottom Line

Moving a tool from one foundry to another always involves some risk. The OEM needs to build up a “safety stock,” or enough parts to keep its production line moving while the transfer takes place. If this process doesn’t move smoothly, the production delays can be very costly.

You can move your castings to State Line Foundries with confidence, knowing that we have the systems in place for a smooth transition.