»CASTING Plant and Technology International« (CP+T) is the leading English-language foundry journal with a worldwide distribution. It covers the entire foundry technology for ferrous and steel castings, as well as non-ferrous metal castings including die casting. Raw and auxiliary materials as well as questions of quality control and environmental protection are included.

The focus is on technical papers from the practice of plant manufacturers, suppliers and foundries.

Short news about new facilities and processes and important events in the foundry industry complete the editorial offer.

Contents of issue 02/2023

SPECIAL: GIFA 2023

  • Central meeting point for the industry
  • The sector will show what casting can do, Gerd Krause
  • We have the three D‘s as giant challenges“ - Interview with GIFA/NEWCAST President Dr. Ioannis Ioannidis, Kristina Krüger, Martin Vogt
  • Metallic raw materials – the building blocks of the circular economy, Gerd Krause
  • 20 BDG at NEWCAST and GIFA 2023 – Appearance at the fair as a lighthouse for the sector, Martin Vogt
  • GIFA NEWS

CONTENTS

  • „We need the sharp engineering mind“ - Interview with Dr. Elmar Beeh, organizer of the WerkstoffPlus Auto conference in Stuttgart, Germany, Monika Wirth
  • Optimization Concept for Dot-peen Marking of Al-Si-alloy Castings For foundry, the accurate and individual traceability of cast parts is the bases for the establishment
    of intelligent quality management, Fangtian Deng, Steffen Klan, Marius Schilling
  • Optimal use instead of waste: better planning of machine capacities With the help of AI, the best possible sequence planning can be determined in a given computing time, Gerald Scheffels
  • Casting defects at the riser seat of GJS castings Casting defects in the area of the riser seat of GJS components have investigated at the ÖGI, Hubert Kerber, Albert Jahn
  • MES vs. IIoT: Supersede or Complement? It‘s not a question of either/or, but IIoT and MES complement each other, Markus Diesner
  • Ready for takeoff: PMMA 3D printing and investment casting for aerospace applications The investment casting specialist TITAL relies on the proven wax models as well  as 3D-printed plastic models from voxeljet AG, Sabine Hensold
  • Data from industrial inline CT increase quality and efficiency 3D data from inline computed tomography (CT) of castings or molds can be an important building
    block for gaining efficiency and quality, Ferdinand Hansen, Michael Ulbricht
  • Prototype of an SME (Light) Metal Foundry 4.0 Digitalization and Industry 4.0 are great opportunities for SMEs to strengthen their competitiveness, Eric Riedel

Editorial

© BDG
Martin Vogt, Editor-in-chief © BDG

The world‘s leading trade fair – are you there?

Germany at least is in GIFA and NEWCAST fever, as far as the casting part of our industry is concerned. The industry meeting in the Duesseldorf exhibition halls could also live up to its claim as the leading trade show in 2023 – but what about outside Europe?

For many months now, news has been trickling into our editorial office. Product news about GIFA and NEWCAST, the two trade show parts of our foundry industry within the GMTN trade show quadrangle. Even though physical trade fairs may no longer have the overriding importance of earlier times, my impression is that even in 2023 many companies in the industry take the trade fair very seriously, as the mass of information in advance alone shows. A trade show is still a showcase in which people like to present themselves and their products.

Consequently, this issue of CPT reaches you with a trade show focus that begins right after the table of contents. Our articles starting on page 10 and 20 are a commitment to the efficiency of the casting process and our industry as a whole, as well as an assessment from a political and strategic perspective. In the middle is the interview with trade show president Dr. Ioannis Ioannidis. It discusses the special focal points of the trade show and, of course, the challenges facing our industry.

But what is „our“ industry anyway? By that, of course, I mean the industry from a German, and possibly even a European, perspective. That is the horizon that we can survey. We know the protagonists, the specific topics, not least through our European association CAEF.

But what about outside Europe, where our CPT is also read? To be honest, I don‘t know what topics are of particular interest to foundrymen in India or the USA. But I would like to know. As editors, we would prefer a lot of information and technical articles that concern non-European companies. I would consider that exciting for a worldwide foundry community. Maybe we‘ll get talking in Duesseldorf. And if you have decided against the exhibition or the visit to Duesseldorf, possibly also virtually and digitally. I would then be very interested to know what you think about an action we took in May in a German foundry: A rally for Germany as a business location and for the future – combined with the demand for an industrial electricity price. Does that seem exotic to you? Because you have other issues? Please let me know.

Have a good read!