Cast metal components are not items that are commonly bought out of catalogs; most often they are tailor-made objects, designed and produced to the specific needs of a particular customer. As such, cast components cannot and should not be treated as low-value, high-volume secondary commodity items, where price is the sole purchase criteria. 
Cast components should be considered high-value manufacturing products, where the foundry is an extension of the buyer's manufacturing capability involving long-term relationships and open, on-going communication at all levels. As high-value items, the purchasing criteria for cast components include a balance of quality, cost, service and delivery.
Many OEM component buyers recognize that a carefully considered purchasing policy is the key to "best-value" procurement of metal castings. The policy should define the buyer-seller relationship, based on the following principles:
• long-term relationships based on shared benefits and best value for all parties;
• "qualified" cast component suppliers who meet production quality standards, deliver on schedule, provide expertise and knowledge to support component design and improvement and provide "best-value" pricing;
• open and continuous communication at executive, purchasing and technical levels to support concurrent engineering/design, design for manufacturability and continuous improvement.
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Purchasing Steps |
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Purchasing is a critical process in any business. A company purchases raw materials, sub-components and support services that all are essential to the production and delivery of the finished product to their customer. There is tremendous value in developing a purchasing process that is tailored to a business' specific needs and that obtains components and services from outside sources in an effective, efficient and timely manner.
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Cost Considerations |
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Efficient and effective purchasing of cast components requires using a considerable amount of specialized information. With the increased emphasis on value analysis techniques, purchasing agents must evaluate the many important factors that directly influence the "total cost" of a component part. The "total cost" factors are usually grouped under the general headings of quality, service, price and delivery. Each buyer will determine the relative importance of these factors, based on particular circumstances. Since a universal formula isn’t possible, the following information will assist purchasing managers by covering the important criteria that affect the cost of a cast component. It is important that the casting supplier be included during the early stages of the design and purchase planning.
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Hidden Costs of Foreign Sourcing |
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In an attempt to wrap its hands around the global sourcing trend and
determine prices and capabilities, Aurora Metals tested the waters on a
few select casting jobs as part of its own educational mission.
Throughout this process, which included a trip to Asia, the company
uncovered many hidden costs that it was not aware of going into the
process. David Bumbar, Aurora Metals, describes their discoveries:
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How to Buy