Nominate Your Facility for Plant Engineering Award

Nominate Your Facility for Plant Engineering Award
The AFS Plant Engineering Committee 1D is accepting nominations for it's 2009 Plant Engineering Award. The purpose of the award is to recognize a company, division or corporation for its achievements in the planning, installation, operation and maintenance of metalcasting equipment and processes. It also encourages the advance of technical expertise and professionalism of metalcasting engineering in the application, operation and maintenance of metalcasting equipment including associated management control and information systems.

The 2009 winner will be awarded during the Divisional Awards Luncheon at the 113^th Metalcasting Congress, April 7-10, 2009, at the Paris Las Vegas, Las Vegas. To download a nomination form, click here. Nominations should be directed via fax to David Kennedy, AFS plant engineering committee 1D vice-chairman, at 815-479-9102, or email dkennedy@generalkinematics.com. Plant nominations are due October 31.

Executive Conference Focuses On Energy, Raw Materials
The 2008 Foundry Executive Conference will be held September 21-23 at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Spa and Casino, Incline Village, Nev. This annual summit of industry leadership will feature presentations on:

Slimming Down with Lean Manufacturing, Chip Long, World Class Consulting Group;
U.S. Scrap & Alloy Markets: A Status Report for Metalcasters, Jason Redden, Omnisource Corp.;
Going Green in Metalcasting, Jim Schifo, Keramida Environmental, Inc.

The special events at this conference include golf and tennis tournaments and a three-hour Lake Tahoe Cruise aboard the Tahoe Queen. For more information, or to register, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237 or click here to view a conference brochure.

Participate in Survey on Gating Practices, Needs
The AFS Aluminum Division's Gating and Risering Committee 2H is gathering information about gating practices and needs. This information will be used to initiate research and other projects related to the gating and risering of aluminum sand castings. Survey respondents will be provided a comprehensive listing of responses after the survey is complete.

To take the survey, click here. For more information, contact Becky Erickson, AFS technical assistant, at rebecca@afsinc.org.

Last Chance: Sales & Marketing Conference Filling Fast
The AFS Marketing and Selling of Castings conference will be held July 31-Aug. 1 at the Westin O'Hare, Rosemont, Ill. Take the opportunity to register now to gain access to experts and potential customers. Registrations are coming in fast, so sign up before it is filled.

A special two-hour in-depth seminar with marketing guru Dan McQuiston (www.mcquistongroup.com), Butler Univ., is planned, along with several top-notch speakers including:

Ed O'Neil, Director of Global Sourcing, Caterpillar
Bob Whaley, Director of Procurement, Haas Automation
Jim King, Commodity Sourcing Analyst, FMC Technologies
Robert Ryan, Director, Engine Business Global Purchasing, Cummins Inc.
Wayne Braun & Jim Clifford, Sales & Marketing, AmeriCast Technologies Inc.
Alex Bryant, President, East-West Associates
Rick Betori, President, Wonderlic
Tim Daro, President, Bernard & Co.

As part of the conference special, have your website, brochures and other marketing and communications vehicles evaluated one-on-one by industry experts in a critique session. All attendees will receive a free copy of the 2008 AFS Forecast and Trends Report (valued at $400).

For more information, or to register for the AFS Marketing and Selling of Castings conference, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237 or click here to view the conference brochure.

CMI Offers Green Sand Control Internet Course
CMI will be offering a Green Sand Control internet course September 22-October 19. This course covers the components of the sand conditioning system used to prepare molding sand mixtures. Students will learn to prepare the process map of sand preparation and identify the input and output variables in the manufacturing of castings, features of various components of molding sand mixtures used in green sand molding, and precautions and techniques of testing the various properties of molding sand mixtures. Participants of this course also will have an opportunity to learn the techniques of data collection relevant to molding sand mixtures and interpretation of the data meaningful to the production of quality castings.

This is a four week subject specialist facilitated course. Information will be presented through video lectures, reading materials, assignments and participation in discussion boards. Quizzes will be given on a weekly basis You will not have to be online at a certain time of day or a certain day of the week, but you must complete the weekly assignments by the due dates. Expect to spend approximately 10 hours per week on this course.

For more information, or to attend this course, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237 or click here to register.

Looking for more information on green sand control? The publication Green Sand Additives, 2nd Edition can help. AFS Special Publications has everything you need to supplement your metalcasting training. Visit www.afsinc.org/estore or call 800/537-4237 for more information.