In recent years, the in vogue sourcing option for metal castings has been "Low Cost Countries" (LCCs). Buyers and purchasing departments show their management spreadsheets detailing vast savings that would be realized if their castings were sourced overseas.

The problem is, most companies are not looking at the true, complete costs of sourcing metal castings in LCCs. To compound the issue, most American companies are not doing what it takes to compete – that is, they are not doing everything they can to reduce the costs of domestic production.

But not Signicast. Unlike other companies, everything we do allows us to focus on providing the lowest cost – not just for the final piece price, but for an entire investment casting program.

If you're a company that just looks at spreadsheets, you're not seeing the true cost or total value because other factors will affect your bottom line if you decide to source overseas:

What will it cost if you lose your technology due to a lack of patent protection?

Patent laws are not as comprehensive (and not as enforceable) in many other countries. As a result, companies have lost millions of dollars when an Asian company duplicated their product and brought it to market at an even lower cost.

How long will it take you to make the small design change your customer or market demands?

At Signicast, we carry zero inventory and provide just in time delivery. We can have your changes made and your metal casting order to the market in less than 2 weeks from start to delivery. If you’re sourcing in Asia, chances are that shipping alone will take more than 2 weeks. At that time, you’ll probably have months worth of inventory and making design changes is a huge undertaking.

Are your product’s specifications going to be followed?

Communicating job specs and other instructions to foreign suppliers can be a monumental challenge. Metal casting quality standards in LCCs are vastly different. And, deviating from the standard is normal. Can you afford to have your metal castings redone when they’re not done right?

Do you know who is actually making your castings or providing the secondary services?

In Asia, you can never be sure if the company that you hire will be the company that does the actual work sinceIt’'s very common for companies to subcontract services from other foundries or subcontractors without your knowledge or approval when things get busy.

Who is your company going to use for new product development and technical assistance if sourcing your metals castings completely in Asia?

Sending personnel to Asia to perform these tasks is extremely expensive – and it’s not always easy to find qualified people who are willing to do it. Training “indigenous” personnel for these tasks is also quite expensive – not to mention time-consuming and risky.

Where do you allocate premium freight?

A lot of companies spend millions of dollars annually on premium freight for metal castings and then put it against general overhead. This does not show the true cost of a component and can mislead a company into thinking it is saving much more than it actually is.

What cost do you put on being beat to the market by your competition or missing a launch date?

Having Asian companies stock product works under normal conditions. However, how will they react if the market improves beyond expectation and production ramps up? At Signicast, we can meet unexpected ramp ups within two weeks, compared to a minimum of seven weeks if sourcing in Asia – plus we can do it without the premium freight costs you would incur.