A column in Modern Casting may seem like an odd forum to announce big changes to Metal Casting Design & Purchasing. Please bear with me. MCDP, like the Phoenix, will relaunch with the November/December issue as Casting Source: The Leading Resource for the Metalcasting Supply Chain. 

Casting Source, in print and online, will be a necessary tool for more effectively reaching your customers. Whether the job title is Casting Technical Steward, Commodity Specialist, Global Procurement Manager, Project Designer, Product Engineer, or Supply Chain Manager, our goal is to find and provide them with a free subscription to Casting Source magazine. 

My recent discussions with suppliers and foundries yielded a critical point. Those who have aggressively pursued new business have not experienced the slowdown others have in the second half of 2019. There are no universal solutions in an industry as diverse as metalcasting. Nevertheless, our big goal is to make Casting Source a major driver for new metalcasting business. 

The online presence for Casting Source will be strong. Our Facebook page (@CastingSourceAFS) and Twitter account (@CastingSource) are constantly refreshed with the latest in metalcasting developments and trends. CastingSource.com will continue to be the place to go for insightful and well-written pieces to help you source castings.

However, there are excellent reasons we’re keen on relaunching a hard copy magazine instead of deserting the battlefield of print and fully embracing only having an online presence right now. 

Experts say Millennials like print magazines. That’s critical. AFS is nothing if not committed to doing everything we can to bring those younger employees into metalcasting as knowledgeable purchasers, product designers, and suppliers. 

Advertisers know when a magazine scrupulously grows its target audience, as Casting Source is committed to, it’s a necessary channel for connecting with that target audience. Print is more effective after repeated exposures, unlike broadcast media which becomes less effective. Print feels more like a conversation, while repeated broadcast advertising feels like harassment. 

Not that Casting Source will buy ads to run on CNN or FOX, but the top print magazines reach greater audience numbers than the comparable primetime TV programs. Print is powerful. 

This is even more important. 61% of readers take action after seeing effective print presentations. Casting Source will reach the audience that matters for foundries—their potential customers—with  potent exposures to the key messages. 

Magazine readers dig into printed information and they remember more of what they’ve processed than people do from broadcast. Good writing is vital. The magazine you are reading has won five awards in the past two years, four them for writing. We’re bringing those writing credentials to Casting Source. We want the magazine to be well-read and we will have to bring our A game to making it well-written and well-edited. 

For the worriers who fret about the loss of content for design engineers, fear not! To paraphrase Mark Antony in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, we are not burying the metalcasting design part of this old magazine but adding a major thrust to the new magazine for the supply chain. The major strategic goal is new and better connections with foundry customers.  

When they receive the first edition of Casting Source, they will see a new overall design. There will be new features and new columnists. We will have regular articles on AFS educational offerings for designers and buyers. We will feature experts on making and buying better parts. Reshoring has been highly effective in the past two years, and we will offer pieces on how purchasing agents can truly evaluate the real cost of offshore vs. domestic production. We have casting buyers who will provide insights for successful casting procurement for in the same professional roles. We will have foundry personnel speaking to the key issues they wish their customers understood better, like lead times. 

One new feature I am most anticipating is “NextGen Voices,” as it will feature younger personnel who are starting careers from all parts of the metalcasting supply chain. 

Casting Source will be the leading resource for the metalcasting supply chain. If you’re in that supply chain, this relaunched magazine will have something for you. 

Two final stats: 91% of U.S. adults read print magazines. 84% are using the internet. So why would you drop print for advertising strictly online?  

See you with the November/December edition of the new and improved Casting Source magazine.   

Click here to see this story as it appears in the October 2019 issue of Modern Casting.