Black Country firms' role in component of the year success

The Boro Foundry, located in Stour Vale Road in Lye, and West Bromwich’s ADI Treatments helped the manufacturer of Unimog vehicles develop a new three-point linkage power lift arm for use in the agriculture, forestry and rail sectors.

Together, the trio have taken a steel fabrication and converted it to a casting in Austempered Ductile Iron (ADI).

What was once an inelegant part and prone to distortion/failure, the new cast design is four times stronger in the critical areas, whilst being lighter due to the inherent stiffness of the ADI compared with the steel equivalent.

Organised by the Cast Metals Federation, there were also major accolades for Sarginsons Industries’ digital twin activities (innovation) and MRT Castings (company of the year).

CMF chairman and chief executive of Brownhills-based Castings, Adam Vicary, opened the celebration dinner at the Drayton Manor Resort.

He said: “Despite the gloomy economic predictions, the majority of our foundries are doing well, and this is typified by the quality and innovation of our finalists.

“We can clearly see a commitment to innovation and problem solving, working with customers and embracing new technology from all our winners, not to mention a willingness to collaborate, develop workforces and push forward with sustainability.”

He continued: “The castings and foundry industry can be part of the solution to growth for the UK. And let’s remember, our sector makes all the components a modern economy depends upon, and metals recycle forever.”

The UK Cast Metals Industry Awards, which attracted nearly 200 guests, focused on the great castings being manufactured in metal by UK foundries, and their huge achievements in innovation, growth and component performance.

Co-presented by Dr Pam Murrell of the Cast Metals Federation (CMF) and comedian Patrick Monahan, the evening clearly showcased the successes of the sector and its evolving impact on UK manufacturing.

Arron Rimmer, Director at ADI Treatments, said: “The use of casting as the ‘route to manufacture’ for this component now allows greater flexibility in producing design variants for the customer, greater reliability and a cleaner geometry, with the additional possibility for the client logo to be ‘cast on’, and larger batches are now viable on a reduced timescale. This was a great project to be involved in.”

The final element of the evening was a presentation from William Cook Cast Products on its work in making ‘Shiny Sheff’ – a memorial to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the HMS Sheffield during the Falklands conflict with the loss of 20 personnel.

Both the base and the crests were cast by the company in stainless streel and the memorial is now located at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.