CastingBlog What’s In a Name?
Today, many metalcasters still refer to themselves as foundrymen and to their plants as foundries. The problem is that when a group of casting buyers was asked what images came to mind when they heard the term foundry, they responded with: “dark, smoky, dangerous, fire, flames…” Not exactly peaches and cream. Is this the image you want your customers to have when they think of you?
We need to move, as an industry, to the terms "metalcasting facilities" and "metalcasters" as much as possible. We’ve been using those terms for years in the magazine. Similarly, metalcasters should consider calling their products engineered cast components rather than castings or metal castings. We need to begin to focus on our process and the capabilities of our process because this is what sets us apart and labels us as unique to our customer base. We need to train our customers to think of us as high-tech manufacturers producing engineered products, so we can begin to eliminate the commodity buying mentality of our customers that is killing our profit margin.
I really have to disagree with you. My experience is that no matter how we refer to ourselves we have that smokestack industry image. I have referred to the industry as the metalcasting industry. People usually respond,”Isn’t that the foundry industry? I can’t believe those dirty and smelly places are still around.” Sometimes people think I’m referring to steel mills. It will take more than simply changing how we refer to the industry to change our image. We need to work everyday in both our professional and personal conversations to talk about all the technology we use and how clean our facilities are. The only people who can change the perception of the industry are us. And no amount of name changing will make it any easier.
I am a recruiter who has been in the metal casting industry since 1996 and when I speak with people most of the time they are clueless about the industry.