The Challenges with Sourcing Cast Parts
It is well known within the Aerospace and Defense (A&D) community that castings are a frequent cost and lead time driver for Defense systems. Whether new designs or legacy hardware, parts derived from castings are often at or near the top of the difficult-to-acquire lists for both development and sustainment organizations.
There are numerous reasons for problems with castings, including:
- Out-of-production parts with virtually no technical data.
- The burden of regulations.
- The nature of the Defense acquisition process, which entails infrequent purchases, low volumes, price pressures and exposure of cost data.
- Lost engineering expertise.
- Hesitancy to invest in new capacity.
The result for many foundries is to “no bid” Defense RFQs or to avoid the Defense market altogether.
Rapid Cast Parts – Center of Excellence (RCP-COE)
Added foundry capacity—combined with capability—are essential to Defense systems. However, there is little impetus on the part of the industry to make investments to accommodate this market segment. But there is an innovative solution that has been proven to take great strides toward filling that void. The solution, demonstrated by Renaissance Services, is the Rapid Cast Parts Center of Excellence (RCP-COE).
The solution is a rather straightforward concept that identifies supply chain pain points, focusing on cost and lead time drivers for castings and their link to downstream post processing (e.g., machining, assembly), and supports the entire manufacturing process – from reverse engineering to delivering finished components with complete Technical Data Packages (TDP).
As a system integrator focused on value-stream requirements, Renaissance built a network of foundries and machine shops, enabling them to focus on their strengths – casting metal and machining finished parts. The RCP-COE network offers a fully integrated solution that enables rapid and cost-effective production of legacy and new hardware.
Join the RCP-COE Initiative
To join the initiative or to learn more, please contact Mr. Rick Pressley (RPressley@ren-services.com), Director of Business Development at Renaissance Services.