New at CastForge: The platform that’s proven you can buy and sell castings online
Faster, better, more digital casting procurement
CASTFAST leverages the advantages of 3D sand printing to radically digitalise and streamline the foundry process from cost estimate through to delivery and repeat order.
Marcel Tschillaev, Product Lead and part of the founding team at CASTFAST, explains: “We’re foundry people and passionate about casting as a manufacturing process. We set out to make castings more attractive to the people who buy them, by sorting out those parts of the process that are annoying to buyers: long waits for quotations, long lead times, a lack of flexibility and agility. Addressing these issues and offering a new way of buying and selling castings is a huge opportunity for foundries to access new customers, work smarter, be more competitive. We can make foundries’ lives easier!”
3D sand printing: why so radical?
The use of 3D sand printing has made it possible to overcome several problems with the traditional foundry process in one fell swoop.
Moulds are printed directly in sand (through binder jetting), without the need for a pattern. The process allows for greater precision and more accurate surfaces than other faster processes like, for example, full mould casting, and offers greater design freedom.
Because 3D sand printing is by nature a more digital process (it starts with a print file), it enables a new level of digitalisation of the whole foundry process. Crucially, it makes it easier to calculate prices - no pattern cost! - and to route the casting order to the right supplier and through the foundry.
Once a digital print file has been created, repeat orders of the same casting can be placed at the push of a button, without minimum order quantities. Replacement parts can be ordered on demand and can even be improved or tweaked between orders. Even small series orders of up to 100 parts can be produced in a very short time without a pattern.
The order process starts online, with an online calculator that gives an instant price indication, estimated delivery date and carbon footprint. This is followed up with a formal quotation within 24 hours.
A boost for foundries
For foundries, CASTFAST offers an additional way of securing new business as well as a faster way of delivering existing projects. Foundries can become part of the CASTFAST platform and help deliver leads coming in via the online calculator or they can buy 3D-printed sand moulds from CASTFAST – to speed up orders, make fast-turnaround projects possible and try out the advantages of 3D sand printing. CASTFAST experts are on standby to support with technical questions.
At CastForge in Stuttgart, the CASTFAST team will be showcasing both its platform and the 3D sand printing process. It invites casting end users, buyers and foundries to discover the future of foundry.