A customer of AFS Corporate Member Waupaca Foundry (Marinette, Wisconsin) was looking for a stronger but lighter part while also reducing its cost. The part was a then-offshored clamp used to secure cable and tubing of land-based wellbores for the oil and gas industry. Intense collaboration between Waupaca and the customer, along with the use of advanced technologies, resulted in a thin-walled, innovative redesign that reduced tooling cost by 75%, cut weight by 12% and realized tighter dimensional tolerances. It also localized the supply chain, reshoring the part to U.S. production for increased speed to market and improved inventory management and cash flow. 

Click here to read the rest of the article in the July/August 2021 digital edition of Casting Source.