Top five things to consider when choosing an investment casting company

If you have ever worked with an investment casting company or visited its facility, you know how labour-intensive the process is—and that it takes much longer than other casting methods. When searching for an investment casting company, there is no need to settle for traditional or ordinary. Here are the top five things to consider when searching for the best investment casting company.

Quality & repeatability

Investment casting is considered a net-shape or near-net-shape process, and it can be performed consistently with the right tooling. We believe the key to excellent quality begins with early supplier involvement during the formative stage of product design. With over 30 investment casting engineers on staff, our technical and CAD capabilities are available to help you improve the way your existing component is produced—even if it was previously manufactured using another casting process.

We begin with high-quality wax injection tooling and create a manufacturing process that never stops. Our toolmaking process helps reduce project lead times and supports the production of more complex tooling for high-quality, complex parts with the tightest tolerances. This toolmaking process is unmatched in capability and speed. Everything is focused on completing the tooling quickly. Additionally, we use simulation software to simulate solidification during the casting process, resulting in significant time savings by eliminating multiple trials—thereby achieving a high-quality, repeatable process the first time.

Speed & delivery

When you think of investment casting, we know that most people are concerned with speed. In fact, some people would say that investment casting is one of the most frustrating casting processes because it is typically very slow. At Signicast, we have eliminated the word slow from all aspects of our business. Unlike other investment casting companies, we do not batch projects; we connect every stage so that each project runs as one complete operation—from tooling to finishing, robots move parts from one step to the next in a continuous flow. Other investment casting companies complete each process independently—often leaving your parts at one cell for weeks at a time—while Signicast completes everything in one consecutive process. This helps drastically reduce defects and the potential for part failure.

Speed is especially critical if you are receiving defective parts. Combining speed and quality is what matters. If you ship a part on time but it is defective, is it really on time? Quality before speed—but we also complete everything just as quickly.

If you visit our Hartford, Wisconsin facility, you will see a completely automated manufacturing system incorporating robotics and eliminating material handling to deliver your job faster and better than any other investment caster.

With true just-in-time delivery, you do not have to maintain high inventory levels to accommodate market fluctuations. Our average throughput for a new product launch, once we receive the purchase order to build the tooling, inject the parts, send samples, obtain approval and run the project, is less than 8 weeks. That is less than the average investment casting company takes to run a project for an existing customer. 

Lowest total cost

While many of today's casting companies promise the lowest part price, Signicast strives to offer the lowest total cost, which includes getting your product to market faster while still producing a high-quality cast part. We operate with a first-to-market mindset, meaning our customers provide their production schedules and Signicast develops a delivery programme to accommodate their workflow. Our continuous-flow manufacturing process enables us to reduce costs through lower labour requirements, which in turn helps us create the lowest total cost for our customers.

The extreme flexibility of the Signicast investment casting facility is why we are a true just-in-time manufacturer. Signicast is ready and equipped to handle radical shifts in output when you face unexpected spikes in demand for your product.