Things are much quieter these days at Stainless Foundry & Engineering (SF&E). A year ago, the northern Milwaukee-based AFS Corporate Member invested almost half a million dollars to install a Triplex waterblast system removal of ceramic shells on investment castings–– their previous manual process proving to be rather raucous. The upgrade is the latest demonstration of the metalcaster’s commitment to workplace improvement for its team and cost efficiencies for customers––it’s also one of several ways management actively differentiates the company in the marketplace.   

Using several gallons of water per minute at a powerful 20,000 psi to clean castings, the contained waterblast cabinet replaced a high-decibel method involving a knockout hammer, spinner blast, and hand chisel, which also generated airborne silica as casting shells were removed. By containing silica particles in the system of the waterblast unit, SF&E has now improved overall air quality in the investment casting department.

“For a number of years, we’ve looked at waterblast technology for shell removal, said President and CEO Jim Stachowiak. “It not only offers noise reduction but also significantly improves the overall quality of the castings. With the old method, any type of holes or small, difficult-to-reach areas would end up having to be hand chiseled or ground out––anytime you’re doing that, you have higher probability of nicking or damaging the surfaces around the area that you’re trying to clean. So, we’ve really seen a significant reduction in cost variance by not having to repair castings. The waterblast is more efficient, the castings come out cleaner, and there’s less need for additional processing later in the production cycle.” 

The table inside the waterblast cabinet has a 500-lb. capacity, which more than accommodates SF&E’s largest investment casting, a 170-lb. insertion valve. While investigating the technology and brand options, the foundry was invited to view the machine in action at the plant of a friendly competitor nearby. Once installed, it made a clear statement to employees, both those who operate it and those who rarely see it. 

“As we strategically planned and implemented this capital equipment, people were noticeably happy to see the company investing in itself,” said Mitch McCaffery, vice president. “It’s also been a pretty big achievement that a lot of our customers have noticed. We had to deploy some significant resources to run this project, and manufacturing, engineering, and maintenance worked together to make it operational. Everybody who walks through is pretty impressed by it.”

Not Your Run-of-the-Mill Foundry

Substantial as its investment casting business is at the front end of the foundry, there’s much more to SF&E, which started out in 1946 as a one-room green sand foundry. Growth in several directions and dimensions followed over the decades, first with the addition of investment casting in 1969, then with the introduction of machining services in 1983. Presently, the company runs three shifts ’round the clock with about 160 employees and occupies a manufacturing footprint of 200,000 sq. ft. They pour about 4 million lbs. of metal a year and ship castings all over the globe.

Flexibility is the name of the game for SF&E today, but so is naming their lane, widening it, and then stepping on the gas. Their main lane is pump and valve components, and they serve a large range of industries, including aerospace, defense/military, food and beverage, mining, nuclear, oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation, some areas of pulp and paper, and railroads. Diverse, yes, but what’s unique is their dual casting processes under one roof: investment casting and sand casting, which gives customers numerous options of size and finish, depending on their requirements. 

“On the investment side, it’s more of a near-net process, typically higher volume, and smaller castings,” said McCaffery. “Most times, these customers are looking for parts to implement into their pump or their valve with minimal stock removal or any further processing. 

“Whereas with sand casting,” he continued, “you typically have more stock, and the surface finish isn’t as cosmetically pleasing as an investment casting. So, it really depends on the application. Interestingly, we’ve started to see a lot of parts that were historically sand castings that some of our customers have started to transition over to the investment castings.”

Size variation gives the foundry an edge––on the sand side, they’ve shipped a casting as big as 2,500 lbs.; dimensionally, they do molds as small as 12 x 12 in. and as large as 72 x 72 in., with some floor molds even bigger. The largest investment casting they’ve shipped is 170 lbs. They’ve done rotor turbine castings as small as under 1 lb., while occasionally they pour up to 7,000 lbs. such as a multi-stage, split-case pump. 

Such a massive pouring capacity is made possible thanks to the foundry’s 11 electric induction furnaces––five at work in the investment side of the business melting up to 1,000 lbs. each, and six dedicated to the sand side of the business, melting up to 3,500 lbs. 

“It gives us the flexibility to handle unique customer shapes and unique customer alloys, and we’re able to reduce the minimum that we would have to charge them by deploying multiple furnaces for those products,” said Stachowiak. 

“It’s a large number of furnaces, but we have the demand to support it,” added McCaffery. “The benefit of having so many furnaces is we pour so many alloys, so we have a lot better availability for sequencing alloys into the schedule and getting parts to customers.”

Many alloys indeed. The foundry is pouring 250 different alloys today.

With origins in serving the agriculture and dairy sectors of the Upper Midwest, SF&E was a go-to source of 300 and 400 series stainless steels to support those markets with corrosion-resistant, high-mechanical-property, martensitic and austenitic alloys. Over time, the foundry expanded into low-alloy steels and even became involved with the ASTM board in the development of duplex grades, from 1A and 1B up through 70. In addition, SF&E has been pouring military components for over 50 years, which includes common nickel based, high alloys such as C96400, as well as Inconel and Hastalloy alloys. The foundry stopped pouring non-ferrous alloys in the early 2000s but in recent years has seen a renewed demand for nickel, aluminum and bronze (NAB) in food and beverage as well as in nuclear and defense––they initiated an internal charter to bring those alloys back online and are currently supplying non-ferrous castings. 

“It takes an extreme amount of technical knowledge, specifically from a metallurgy standpoint,” said McCaffery. “We have three degreed metallurgists on staff working directly with our quality folks on putting together all the heats and processes to make parts that are all compliant. In terms of process control, metallurgical advantage is really one of our core strengths. 

Sectors in Their Sights

Uptick in demand for ferrous castings in both nuclear and defense have caused SF&E to double-down and strategically sharpen their focus on both these sectors.

“From a nuclear standpoint, there is a big push toward clean energy in the U.S. and in the European Union, and a lot of our customers have told us they are supplying the pump and valve components for nuclear power plants,” said McCaffery. “There are contracts going through that are going to increase the amount of time that they’re operating, and they need more castings. 

Stachowiak added, “About five years ago, I think the consensus was that nuclear was going to go away. They weren’t renewing licenses, and there were a number of reactors in North America that were slated to be shut down. But over the last two years, we’ve seen a significant reversal of that with the introduction of small modular reactors. We’ve seen a number of nuclear power plants that were going to closed but now have had licenses extended. 
“We’re seeing plans starting to be laid for the maintenance of those facilities, so over the next couple of years, we anticipate a real uptick in the nuclear market.”

The pump and valve parts for nuclear MRO are a good fit for SF&E, and the alloys align well within its current envelope, according to McCaffery. “So, we’re currently investing time and resources to earn our quality systems certificate, which is a pretty high-level certification that allows us to supply to top-tier manufacturers that supply directly to nuclear power plants.”

The company has, in fact, spent 12 months preparing for the QSC Nuclear Audit by leveraging recent Nuclear Industry Assessment Corp. (NIAC) and military and defense audits. They expect to undergo the final audit in the fourth-quarter and potentially receive their certification by year-end.

On the defense side of their business, optimism also reigns as they gauge the large volume of aircraft carriers and submarines the U.S. plans to build over the next 10–20 years. As with the nuclear sector, SF&E is already producing the types of pump and valve components required, so they’re targeting defense growth through existing customers while also marketing to new ones with the goal of gaining further market share.

Testing, Testing

The foundry is an ideal defense casting partner with internal heat treat and welding services available, as well as non-destructive testing (NDT) available onsite with an independent, third-party company, InspectTech Corp., which is headquartered in northern Wisconsin. The foundry leases space in its warehouse to them where product can be conveniently transferred for InspectTech’s objective NDT testing. A majority of their testing is captive for SF&E work.
“We all recognize that defects are inherent to castings––there are just going to be defects because we’re pouring them statically,” McCaffery reflected. “In the pressure-retaining industries we work in, we need to have non-destructive testing to ensure our castings are compliant to the purchase order and specification. The benefit of us having this third party on-site is our ability to provide radiographic testing, magnetic particle testing, liquid penetration inspection, as well as visual inspection. Our partner on-site has two linear accelerators, which are X-ray booths that can shoot up to 16 in. of material, covering pretty much everything we pour, from a radiographic standpoint. All of these tests allow us to supply turnkey product to our customers.”

Besides the InspectTech services with a Level 3-classified expert, SF&E also conducts its own penetrant testing in house with the quality expertise of multiple Level 1- and eight Level 2-classified employees, as well as two Level 3 staff people. 

“The quality backend of the foundry is really among the highest in the industry,” said McCaffery, “and it allows us to continue pouring all 250 alloys and serving these defense contracts.”

Solving Customer Dilemmas

Consultative in its approach with customers and prospects, SF&E can cite frequent occurrences of demonstrating how an investment casting could become a better product as a sand casting, and vice versa. Continuously seeking efficiencies and ways to build trust, the foundry is also a strong believer in excellent communication and launched an online portal through which customers can track their orders live. 

Uncommon solutions to customer problems seem unexpectedly commonplace. One example occurred with a legacy customer of 40 years that was struggling with on-time delivery as well as quality with an existing supplier. Beyond solving those issues, SF&E began an unusual, new initiative to give them a competitive advantage.
“We went to them and offered to stock product for them and essentially help them get to market faster,” said McCaffery. “Within a year’s timeframe, that customer was able to exit their existing foundry and move roughly 50 patterns to Stainless Foundry, where we’re keeping their product on the shelf. We’ve also begun offering this stocking program to other customers. 

Stachowiak added, “We’re trying to provide all our customers with every opportunity and every advantage to save money and reduce their lead time.”