Purchasing Plan 2012 What is your usual involvement in your organization's purchases of equipment and materials?* Authorize/approve purchases Recommend purchases Select/specify purchases Involved in other way Which of the following areas are you involved in purchasing for your organization, including selecting, specifying, recommending, authorizing and/or approving?* Cleaning, finishing and/or shakeout Coremaking Maintenance Machining, painting and/or assembly Melting and/or heat treatment Molding and/or diecasting Patterns, dies and tooling Raw materials Software, modeling and/or I.T. Testing, inspection, quality or shipping Other (please specify) What information sources do you use when making purchasing decisions for your organization?* Company websites Professional journals/publications Referrals by colleagues/word of mouth Trade shows/conferences Vendors/sales representatives Other (please specify) When does your organization make purchasing decisions?* 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter Varies each year What is your organization's 2012 budget for all new equipment and material purchases?* Less than $10,000 $10,000 - $49,999 $50,000 - $99,999 $100,000 - $499,999 $500,000 - $999,999 $1 - $4.9 million $5 - $9.9 million $10 - $49.9 million $50 - $99.9 million $100 million or more I don't know Which of the following equipment and materials does your organization plan to purchase in the next 2 years?* Blasting/grinding equipment Coremaking machines Environmental control systems Furnaces and melt equipment Health and safety equipment Heat treatment equipment Machining equipment Modeling and design software Mold conveyors/material handling Molding and diecasting machines Pattern and die making systems Pouring equipment Rapid prototyping systems Robotics and other lift-assist automation Sand reclamation systems Sand conditioning systems Shakeout systems Spectrometers and melt quality equipment Trim presses and cutoff equipment Testing equipment None of these Other (please specify) How important are each of these factors when your organization is deciding whether to replace, upgrade, or purchase new equipment and materials?* Not important at all 1 2 3 4 Very important 5 Does not apply Age of equipment or technology Overall dependability Ability to increase production Ability to increase plant capacity Ability to increase automation Ability to reduce overall plant costs Ability to reduce energy costs Ability to reduce scrap rates Ability to reduce manpower Ability to satisfy customer demands Ability to improve quality Ability to better meet environmental or worker safety standards How important are each of these factors in your organization's selection of the brand of equipment and materials to purchase?* Not at all important 1 2 3 4 Very important 5 Does not apply System/representatives' reputation Ease of maintenance/serviceability Financing arrangements Foreign or domestic manufacture Manufacturer's reputation/brand image Overall support Domestic service representative In-plant technical assistance Overall dependability Parts availability Previous experience with brand Price/lease rate Product features Trade-in/resale value Warranty How do you typically finance new equipment purchases?* Cash Government assistance Bank loan Supplier financing Other (please specify)