Goldcasting Podcast

In this milestone 25th episode of the Goldcasting Podcast, we are thrilled to welcome Dr. Markus Hofer, a luminary in the field of die-casting from Bühler AG. Join us as we deep dive into the die-casting industry's latest disruption - The Megacasting. Markus Hofer, the business development wizard behind Bühler's success, enlightens us on the strategy in gigacasting. Discover how Bühler navigated t...

Welcome to our 24th Gold Nugget, where we interview Peter Sell from ItalPresseGauss about the Giant Castings. IPG just released their toggle-free 11.000-ton press, so the question is: Where is the economic limit of Gigacasting? Peter describes it best when he says: “Don’t think of your castings as parts! Think of them as money. And how many 100-dollar bills do you want to make wrong?” Based on tha...

Welcome to our 23rd Gold Nugget. The US announced a 100% tax on Chinese EVs, and the EU is launching CBAM in 2026. In this episode, we examine the consequences of such protective measures for our industry. We compare the current situation with past events and predict the possible outcomes for European foundries. We also discuss the competitive advantages of certain electric vehicle brands. And spo...

Welcome to our 22nd Gold Nugget with Dr. Armin Wiedenegger from voestalpine Additive Manufacturing. In this episode, you will get a Masterclass on the Thermal Management of normal and Gigacasting tools. We reverse-engineer what makes a better and cheaper casting. Be aware that it requires you to change your perception, as the only constant in the world is changing, not your tooling concept. We wil...

Welcome to our 21st Gold Nugget with Erik Petré from Stena Aluminium. In this episode, we discuss the sustainability of aluminium alloys. You might be surprised, but the major contributor to the carbon footprint of secondary alloys is not the recycling process; it is the silicon you must add. As the title suggests, Stena Aluminium is the King of Scrap, so they know how to achieve low carbon emissi...

Welcome to our 20th Gold Nugget. We welcome Lars-Inge “Linge” Arwidson from the Swedish Aluminium Association in this episode. We expand our discussion from the foundry industry to the aluminium industry in general. We talk about the sustainability of primary aluminium and the available scrap streams for secondary aluminium. Origin makes a bit of a difference; we talk about Russian, Chinese, and E...

Welcome to our 19th Gold Nugget, where we interview Philipp Hettich from Laubinger+Rickmann. In this episode, we discuss the impact of Gigacasting's geometric distortion on the car production line and how to manage it with straightening. We also discuss what factors increase or decrease the complexity of straightening. In the further discussion, you will learn about risk mitigation strategies in l...

Welcome to our 18th Gold Nugget, and we can welcome Dr. Per Jansson back to the podcast. In this episode, we discuss the impact of Rheocasting on Gigacastings and the rest of the foundry industry. You listen to the common questions OEMs have when starting their Gigacasting journey. Is Gigacasting just a fashion statement, or is money actually to be made? In the further discussion, you will learn a...

Welcome to our 17th Gold Nugget! In this episode, we discuss the latest development in the HPDC industry, Gigacasting. The HPDC industry was in a sort of wake coma for 30 years without major developments until Tesla blew the door open with their gigantic Gigacastings. Very soon, Asian OEMs followed their tracks, and now it has become the to-go variant for car manufacturing. Yet, what are the diffi...

Welcome to our 16th Gold Nugget! In this episode, we discuss the North American HPDC market with Jean-Claude Tawil from DynaTool Industries. As a Canadian, he shows the opportunities of US production, the new NAFTA agreement, and sustainability. In addition, we talk about the different working cultures of automotive OEMs, depending on whether they are European OEMs, the big 3, or new EV companies....

Welcome to our 15th Gold Nugget! Depending on the sources, the automotive market goes down for foundries. Yet, where are profitable castings to find that fill, especially on your smaller machines? The cool thing is that you can get a quick nomination in 2024, and you don´t need to wait 3 years until production starts. Tune into this episode and find out what our Top 10 Castings for Grabs are. Let...

Welcome to our 14th Gold Nugget! In previous episodes, we discussed making casting better and more profitable. Now we flip the medal. We talk to Gunnar Wallin. He used to work for large OEMs in the truck and telecom business as a strategic purchaser. In our Gold Nugget, we got to ask him what a foundry has to do to reach the conference room and get a part awarded. Also, we talk about what is neede...

Welcome to our thirteenth Gold Nugget! In this episode, we discuss the highest entity in an organisation. The board is key to strategic development when it comes to being successful with innovation or in dynamic environments. Yet most board members are uninvolved in the day-to-day business and react to filtered information. In our opinion, it is not the ideal way. There are better ways, especially...

Welcome to our twelfth Gold Nugget from the Euroguss! In this episode, we walked around the trade fair and asked companies a few questions about the industry in a game show style. Our interview partners picked a question from the deck and had to answer it on the fly. Listen to the great answers and get an impression of the development of the foundry market and the Euroguss exhibition. Thank you to...

Welcome to our eleventh Gold Nugget! In this episode, we discuss the hottest car brand, Tesla. One spoiler right at the beginning: we´re not talking about the Tesla Gigacasting. But we touch base on the sourcing strategy of Tesla. If you are a foundry eager to grow, listen carefully; there are a lot of insights into how to become a trusted supplier. We talk about why having a mission is critical t...

Welcome to our tenth Gold Nugget! This episode is outside of our normal schedule. We want to take the time to review the year 2023. We also properly introduce ourselves so that you know us better. We also tell you the story of why we even have this podcast. The most important thing in this Gold Nugget is a series of predictions for 2024. We love to get your take on our predictions. Did we miss som...

Welcome to our ninth Gold Nugget! In this episode, we discuss new technologies and, in particular, Rheocasting. Dr. Per Jansson is the owner of Comptech AB. A former foundry that switched its business model to become a technology supplier with their slurrymakers. We talked about alloys that never solidify, marketing, and the struggles of new technologies in the foundry industry. You can also find...

Welcome to our eighth Gold Nugget! In this episode, we discuss the trend toward sustainability. The foundry industry is an energy-intensive industry. So, saving energy should be a target for this industry, right? What are the ways to reduce the carbon footprint, and at what cost? Who is paying for the change towards low-emission castings? Does any purchase organisation care for sustainable casting...

Welcome to our seventh Gold Nugget! In this episode, we have Benjamin Jung and Andre Weißbrenner from the executive team of Heck+Becker. Heck+Becker was known as a German tool maker, but with the increased high-quality competition from abroad, they faced bankruptcy. They formed a plan to do something new. They left 90 years of tradition behind and focused on their unique strength, which is HPDC pr...

Welcome to our sixth Gold Nugget. We´re talking about a topic that is neglected by most foundries: marketing. It is paired with sales in one position, and that is the wrong way to go. Marketing needs strategic thinking years ahead of the sales pipeline, and it requires creativity to be successful. So what can you do to level up your marketing? What platforms are out there? Where should you be? Lis...

Welcome to our fifth Gold Nugget. In this episode, we discuss the controversial topic of a high mix of products with low volumes. Most automotive foundries do not take on such projects. Other foundries are highly profitable with this strategy. Where is the difference? How do different industries act? What kind of people are needed to succeed? Listen to the Gold Nugget or watch it on YouTube! What...

Welcome to our 4th Gold Nugget. We’re delighted to broadcast our interview with Prof. Anders Jarfors from Jönköping University. Prof. Jarfors explains how university cooperation works. What can you expect from such cooperation, and what is the wrong expectation? We discuss how funding works and how to acquire the skilled personnel of the future. We also discuss the global market situation and how...

This is already the third Gold Nugget, which is outside our usual order. At the beginning of September, we attended the S2P conference in Brescia. It is the conference on semi-solid research. Staffan talked about the venting of tools, and Fabian presented a market study for new Rheocasting series production applications. In our Gold Nugget we talk about our findings. The whole product spectrum of...

In the second gold nugget, we explain the telecom market for you. You will learn why it is an interesting market to be in and why most automotive foundries fail in this lucrative market. This podcast is about how to make money in the foundry industry. Is there any money, or is it just squeezing everyone to save cents? So, we’re not talking about properties, microstructures, atoms, or casting param...

This podcast is about how to make money in the foundry industry. Is there any money, or is it just squeezing everyone to save cents? So, we’re not talking about properties, microstructures, atoms, or casting parameters. We want to speak to anyone in the industry. In our first gold nugget, we take you on a journey around the developments in the foundry market. We see foundries going out of business...