APPLIED PROCESS’S POSTHAVEN

Meet us in St. Louie, Louie.  Hmmmm…….Louie Louie: a classic party song….it reminds me of good times.  Every few years, all of us metal casting geeks get together to catch up with one another, learn from each other and share some good times.  This year’s AFS Cast Expo will be held April 6-9, 2013 in St. Louis and a good time will be had by all.   Unlike our “friends” in the Federal Government there will be no hot-tub hijinks, no Star Trek videos or multi-million dollar afterglow parties.  Here, metalcasters (wealth creators) will meet to collectively improve their game; to provide better products faster and more cost effectively than before.  New technologies.  New faces.  New ideas.  WE LOVE METAL CASTINGS!....and we’re all about growing the pie.

  Applied Process Inc. is proud to be an active participant in the metal casting industry.  By Austempering castings, we make, what you make BETTER.  This enables engineers and designers to produce products and designs that are superior to those that preceded them: tougher, lighter, stronger, quieter, and more wear resistant.  We help our customers (and their customers) convert from one material/process combination to a better, faster, cheaper one.  It’s what we do……and we do it better than anyone else.  That’s why the owners of AP have launched the Joyworks studio; to take projects from concept to prototypes in weeks.  It’s why AP’s staff has more depth of experience.  It’s why AP has the greatest capacity for Austempering; anywhere.  It’s why we created the Monster Parts™ Division.  It’s why AP’s customers (and their customers) expect nothing less than parts done right every time…..and we deliver on that expectation.   All of this serves one purpose; to grow the pie for high performance castings.

 Sure, we plan to meet some old friends and share a meal or two at the 2013 AFS Cast Expo in St. Louis, but we’re going ‘cause we’re all about GROWING.  Meet us in St. Louie, Louie.  More precisely in BOOTH 1081.  We’ll look forward to seeing you there, and sharing some good times.

The quadrennial metal casting exhibition, GIFA, was held in Dusseldorf, Germany June 21 through July 2.  Coincident shows included NEWCAST, THERMPROCESS and METEC.  This massive show covered 12 convention halls with 900 exhibitors (54 from North America) and 53,000 visitors from all over the world.  The European technical organization CIATF sponsored 54 technical papers.  Applied Process Inc. and its affiliates ADI Treatments, ADI Engineering, HighTemp, AP Suzhou and Jilin ADI sponsored a booth in the NEWCAST pavilion.  Hundreds of visitors stopped by our stand to discuss potential applications of Austempering, with specific interest in ADI and CADI.  (They’re discovering that Ausferrite is AWESOME).

The worldwide mood in metal casting and related manufacturing is one of cautious optimism.  European markets have recovered to over 80% of their pre-recession business levels, the US and India are experiencing best ever business levels.  Australian manufacturing is suffering.  Chinese manufacturing has recovered fully in sales levels but is being hit with a high currency valuation, high energy prices and double-digit wage inflation.

We were pleased to announce at NEWCAST the upcoming commissioning of the production Austempering line at Hightemp’s Pune facility.  Pune is the automotive manufacturing capital of India and scores of Indian visitors to our booth expressed unvarnished optimism for the near-term growth of manufacturing in India.

ADI Treatments (UK) hinted at the commissioning of their planned German sister operation, ADI Technik, perhaps in 2012.  This would put leading edge Austempering technology in the heart of Europe where demand remains strong for high-tech conversions to ADI from steel and aluminum castings, weldments and forgings.  

The feedback from Washington this week was grim, with very few new jobs being created (overall) and national unemployment rising to 9.2%.  In contrast, since the recession, US manufacturers have added hundreds of thousands of jobs and all the feedback from North American manufacturers points to growth at least through the middle of 2013.  That’s good news for Austempering, which is already breaking new records.  We are fulfilling our mission to “Grow the Pie” for Austempering…..and we’ll continue to do so.

On another note: Hat’s off to our Australian friends for another fantastic Aussie Boat adventure on the Rhine River near Dusseldorf’s Alt Stadt (Old City).  They sure know how to work and play hard.  They are now even more familiar with Hostile Duck Iron and our www.appliedprocess.com website.  Several Australian foundries have, in fact, joined the US-based Ductile Iron Society (www.ductile.org ).  They include: Graham Campbell Ferrum (parent company of ADI Engineering), Intercast & Forge and Trigg Brothers Foundry.

It’s in the technical press wall-to-wall.  It even made the Wall Street Journal.  FLASH BAINITE is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  A Mr. Cola, from Washington, Michigan has discovered that Bainite has excellent properties.  (We’ve been telling you that since about 1962).  As it turns out, Mr. Cola has either patented, or is applying for patent on methods to produce a mixed-Bainitic microstructure in a quick, continuous process.  The results, examined and reported on, by experts from THE Ohio State University (we’ll give them the benefit of the doubt) showed that steel with a predominantly Bainitic microstructure had higher strength and better ductility than conventionally processed steels.  Sound familiar?  (Visit us on LinkedIn at “Bainite is Better” for real-world examples).  The implication is that if one could produce Bainitic sheet steel it would be stronger and have better formability than either pearlitic or Martensitic steel sheet.  I’ll bet it does.  Mr. Cola also claims that Flash Bainite is also very weldable.  Perhaps, but we’re not certain the patent covers the suspension of the laws of thermodynamics…….and the resultant heat affected zone. 

Go get ‘em Mr. Cola.  We will watch with interest as you commercialize your Austempering Flash Bainite process (as we’ve been at it for almost five decades)…….and if you need moral support you’ll find us at www.appliedprocess.com .  We would like to know who your PR people are…..MAN, they’re good!