View the program outline here.
All presentations remain the copyright of the contributing authors.
Keynote speaker
| Dr Pam Murrell, FICME Pam Murrell is the Chief Executive of the Cast Metals Federation, CMF, the Trade Association for the UK castings industry. The CMF represents and supports its members (UK foundries and suppliers) and is the UK member of the European Foundry Association (CAEF). Pam has a BSc Hons Degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science from the University of Cardiff and a PhD on Fracture and Fatigue from Cranfield University. She began work on a wide range of technical projects at the British Cast Iron Research Association, BCIRA, and then moved on to work at the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers, ICME, ultimately becoming Chief Executive. |
Pam is a Fellow of ICME, which is the UK member of the World Foundry Organisation. She is also Company Secretary and Board member of the European Investment Casters’ Federation and Chairs the WFO Working Group on Training and Professional Development.
Future Foundry – addressing the skills shortages for tomorrow’s casting industry
At a time when the industry is facing significant change, such as from increased light-weighting and the trend towards e-mobility, the need for a skilled workforce capable of adapting has, arguably, never been greater. An aging workforce, shortages of skilled workers and a lack of training programmes are all cited as challenges for the global industry, and may limit the ability of the industry to capitalise on the opportunities. In addition, the prevailing image of the industry, as dark, dirty and dangerous, can make it hard to recruit new employees. Yet casting is a vital part of any advanced manufacturing supply chain and has a role to play in the circular economy, so perhaps there is a more positive image that can be presented to help increase the pipeline of talent. Dr Murrell reflects upon the common challenges that many countries face and shares examples of good practice that some national associations, including those in the UK and across Europe, are working on. She will also report on work that the World Foundry Organisation is undertaking through its Working Group on Training and Professional Development.
Invited speakers
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Brett Ambrosio Brett Ambrosio has been around apprenticeships for many years, leaving school and becoming an Automotive apprentice and then employing apprentices in an automotive business, he has experienced both sides of apprenticeships. In 2003 Brett started teaching apprentices at GOTAFE and then progressed into his current management position. In 2014 GOTAFE was approached to see if they could assist 8 marine-craft apprentices that had been left without an RTO to finish their training. Brett met with a few employers and they put together a training plan to finish off the apprenticeships. The delivery model that was developed in 2014 has now seen 80 current apprentices training around Victoria, Tasmania and NSW. This Year Brett has worked closely with the AFI Victoria to establish a training program for Foundry apprentices in Victoria. This new program gives the apprentice and employer the flexibility to study in the workplace with visits from GOTAFE along the way. |
Moulding & patternmaking apprentice training
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Tristan Casey Dr Tristan Casey is a Lecturer at Griffith University’s Safety Science Innovation Lab and co-founder of boutique consultancy ‘The Culture Effect’. Dr Casey is an experienced Organisational Psychologist with extensive experience in work health and safety, and has a particular interest in leadership and culture. Dr Casey teaches the Safety Leadership programme at Griffith University alongside Prof Sidney Dekker and Dr Drew Rae, and has a high research and industry profile, having delivered numerous presentations and keynotes at academic and applied conferences. Dr Casey is currently studying a PhD with Profs Andrew Neal and Mark Griffin. Recently, Dr Casey’s work was acknowledged by the NSCA and the Queensland Community Achievement Awards, having reached the finalist stages for both award programs. |
Safety differently
If you ask workers what comes to mind when you say ‘safety’, many of them answer with ‘compliance’, ‘paperwork’, or ‘bureaucracy’. The general perception is that safety is about managing documentation and meeting compliance requirements; about covering oneself from legal liability; and showing others (regulators, inspectors, auditors) one picture while the ‘real work’ gets done in a completely different manner. We’re doing safety wrong. Certainly, we are incredibly busy – for most managers and safety professionals, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to complete their safety-related workloads. We are always doing ‘safety work’; audits, inspections, observations, risk assessments, just to name a few. But is it the right work? Are we making a difference? A report by consulting firm Deloitte estimated that we are wasting $250 billion dollars per year on compliance-related activities in Australia. Startlingly, over $155 billion of this figure is due to self-imposed compliance activities – things that organisations obligate themselves to do in the absence of any external requirement. And yet, incidents continue to occur. According to SafeWorkNSW, the fatality rate for manufacturing is nearly double the all-industry average. Over three years, work-related injuries and illnesses in manufacturing costs the economy $558 million. Add this to the significant costs of compliance activities, and we have a serious drain on government, business, and personal resources. An alternative is to do safety differently. Instead of treating people as the problem, as is reinforced through the complex web of rules, procedures, and requirements that bureaucracy generates, we should instead treat people as the solution. The very things we think of as unsafe, such as deviating and violating, is actually our greatest asset. Understanding and harnessing variability is the key to continued safety performance. Instead of designing for the ‘lowest common denominator’ and treating people as automatons that should follow rules at all time, we should encourage them to aspire to their potential, and support their ongoing growth and development of expertise. Building capability can only be achieved by expanding the definition of safety from the ‘absence of negatives’ to the ‘presence of positives’. This is safety differently. In this presentation, Dr Tristan Casey (Organisational Psychologist, and Lecturer at Griffith University’s Safety Science Innovation Lab) will outline the costs and pitfalls associated with a bureaucratic approach to safety management, which has become an epidemic across Australian businesses. Dr Casey will put forward an enlightening alternative; a way of supplementing and streamlining traditional ways of doing safety with contemporary ideas and practices. Case study examples will be shared that present the depth and breadth of the ‘safety problem’ and what businesses can achieve when they embrace the person-centred and solution-oriented approach of Safety Differently.
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Alan Cooke Alan’s first exposure to foundry work was a 4-year stint at the International Harvester plant in Geelong as a 20 year old. He was fortunate during this time to be awarded the Inductotherm Young Foundryman’s Award which gave him an interstate trip to visit foundries in NSW. After IH closed, Alan then joined Ford. At this time Ford was installing new facilities so operated out of the IH facility for 18 months. His next 23 years at Ford were spread between the Aluminium Casting Plant, Iron Casting Plant and a short stint in the Metallurgical Laboratory in various technical roles. The next 10 years at Ford, Alan moved away from the Casting Operations and into the Supplier Support area with a focus on Quality Systems. He still maintained involvement with Castings, working to resolve casting related issues as they emerged in the Asia-Pacific area. Alan finished at Ford in a managerial role in December 2016 and has been the AFI National President since March 2018. |
AFI Industry Data Report - a Beginning. Where to now? (presentation slides)
AFI Industry Data Report - a Beginning. Where to now? (presentation text)
What are the benefits of Australian Industry Group Membership?
The Australian cast metal industry has faced multiple challenges in the last decade. The closure of automotive assembly, significant increase in the importation of castings and cyclic declines in the mining, agriculture and general engineering industries has resulted in the closure of many foundries and reduction in the total tonnage of metal cast.
In this environment, there was an obvious and growing need for the AFI to engage with our political decision makers - a need to influence policy and decisions that deliver better outcomes for our industry.
This has resulted in the collation of the AFI Industry Data Report – an attempt to summarise who we are in quantifiable terms and to demonstrate the collective value of our industry to Australian society.
The report covers Annual Tonnage of Metal Cast (Ferrous and Non-Ferrous). The Number of Employee’s and Apprentices, Energy Costs, Sand Cost, and Annual Value of Castings Sold.
In many ways the Industry report is a launching point for further discussion and analysis. Does the data advance our cause as an industry? How can this data be better utilised to advance the causes of our industry? Should we commission a more nuanced industry survey?
Such questions also lead to reflection on how the AFI National and each State branch can better serve the cast metal industry. To date my activities as President have largely been ad-hoc, but based on my belief that the AFI National needs to rebrand itself. We need to define the industry as a career destination of choice, progressive and dynamic, combining the latest technology with the finely honed manual skills of our moulders and patternmakers.
Direction from you will inform and define the activities that I will pursue.
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Terry Crotty Terry has recently joined Ai Group in the role of Regional Manager Western Sydney, managing and engaging members in Western Sydney and the Illawarra. With a background covering public and private enterprises primarily in Western Sydney, Terry has developed a good understanding of the issues and challenges of business in the region. His career started in the rail industry and has moved through corporate communications, security and managing business development and industry programs in Vocational Education and higher education. He is also Secretary of the Australia Japan Society of NSW, the peak Society for business, social and cultural interaction between the two countries. Terry was a founding Board member of the NSW Police Crime Stoppers program which started in NSW January 1989 and is still highly successful in engaging the public to provide information to Police. |
What are the benefits of Australian Industry Group Membership?
The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) is a peak employer organisation representing traditional, innovative and emerging industry sectors. It is a truly national organisation which has been supporting businesses across Australia for more than 140 years. The presentation will outline the benefits of membership for businesses in the foundry industry and those servicing it, the services available to members and an overview of why Ai Group represents the interests of business as Australia’s leading industrial advocate. Ai Group is genuinely representative of Australian industry. Together with partner organisations it represents the interests of more than 60,000 businesses employing more than 1 million staff. Members are small and large businesses in sectors including manufacturing, construction, engineering, transport & logistics, labour hire, mining services, the defence industry, civil airlines and ICT.
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Mickael Dernoncourt Mickael started working in Foundry in 2008 as a technician apprentice for KUHN Farm Machinery in France. He gained his advanced diploma and carried on his apprenticeship to become an Engineer. In 2013, he obtained his Master's Degree and moved to New Zealand to start working with A&G Price until July 2017. In September 2017, he joined CWF Hamilton Jet as Foundry Systems Engineer. He integrated the casting manufacturing team and he has been involved on the NPI program. Since a few weeks ago, his role changed internally, and he works as a manufacturing engineer and specializes in foundry process. |
What is industry 4.0 for the foundry industry
A common subject for many companies these days is Industry 4.0. In this presentation we will talk about Foundry 4.0, a vision of future and what can be the foundry of tomorrow. System integration, Internet of Things, Simulation, Additive Manufacturing, Cloud computing, Augmented reality etc., how all this new technology can help growing your business and keep being competitive in the future.
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Mark Goodsell Mark Goodsell is the Ai Group’s National Director – Manufacturing and also Executive Director for The Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council (AAMC). With almost thirty years with the Australian Industry Group, Mark has a deep understanding of manufacturing and the enormous demands of 21st Century global business. |
Co-presenter with Terry Crotty
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Peter Herd Peter commenced work as a metallurgy trainee at the BHP Newcastle Steelworks. He progressed to a shift general foreman role in the 11 years with the company, with experience predominantly in production roles in the steelmaking department. Concurrent studies realised a Metallurgy Certificate and a Higher Metallurgy Certificate. Peter then moved to the aluminium industry with Tomago Aluminium Company (TAC), commencing as a potline supervisor and holding a number of production and technical positions. In 1997 he was seconded to a Pechiney Research Facility in France to work on prototype smelting pots for 2 years. Peter returned to TAC in 1999 as the plant technical superintendent. Whilst working full-time at TAC, he completed his MBA. After 24 years at TAC, Peter took a role as Business Development / National Sales Manager for Pyrotek, and for the last 12 years has been responsible for the team selling to the Primary Metals in Australia. |
Foundry safety clothing
The presentation reviews the evolution of safety clothing from a user perspective, and some of the historical incidents that may have had a different outcome if safety clothing of today’s standards had been available. Review the history and development of the PR97 woollen fabric as a basis of some of today’s hot metal safety clothing and comment on other options. An explanation of the Hierarchy of Control in relation to Personal Protection and a review of where delegates operations may sit in relation to this Hierarchy of Control. Today’s legislation is increasing the potential penalties for organisations and individuals who are seen to be not supplying a safe work environment, so how to select the Safety Clothing to give the best protection to all involved.
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David Hughes David is a Metallurgist and has worked at Foseco for 30 plus years in various Technical and Management roles within Australia and Asia. During his time with Foseco, David’s technical roles have been spent as Product Manager Mould and Core, responsible for the Marketing and Product Development in Australia, New Zealand and technical and R&D support for Asia. David is currently the Business Development Manager at John Heine & Son in Sydney. |
Different resin systems used in foundries
The primary objective of all foundries is to produce high quality castings at the most economical cost. To achieve this many foundries are using chemical binder systems to produce their moulds and core. This process starts with controlling the sand system both new and reclaimed to deliver good quality castings. Sand control will be cover together with the four main selfset resin systems used by foundries today for the production of moulds and some cores. These binders systems are: Acid set furan, Ester set alkaline phenolic, Phenolic urethane cold set and Ester hardened silicates. The objective of this article is to outline each system including their advantages and disadvantages with different alloys and coatings.
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The Hon. Craig Kelly, MP, Federal Member for the seat of Hughes Craig Kelly, an Australian federal politician, is a member of the Australian House of Representatives. Since the 2010 federal election, he has represented the electorate of Hughes, in New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia. Before his election, Craig was a small business owner in the manufacturing and trade sector. He was the founder and president of the Southern Sydney Retailers Association, and a well-known advocate for small business, including making recommendations to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. |
| Dr Roger Lumley Dr Roger Lumley is Senior Technical Specialist at AWBell Pty Ltd. He has over 25 years’ experience in materials science & engineering, manufacturing, research, and project management. Roger has a science degree in Metallurgy (BSc.Hons1), a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (PhD), and a Higher Doctorate in Engineering (D.Eng), all from the University of Queensland. Roger is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia (FIEAust) and is chartered (CPEng) in the fields of Mechanical Engineering, Leadership and Management. |
Dr Lumley worked with CSIRO from 1999 to 2012, as Principal Research Scientist and later Stream Leader in the Future Manufacturing Flagship. In 2012, he was seconded to AWBell Pty. Ltd, as Technical Manager to work on commercialisation of advanced metalcasting technologies, developed out of a push into aerospace production. In July 2016, he took on the role of Head of Engineering at La Trobe University until July 2018. Now, Roger is Senior Technical Specialist for AWBell and working on an initiative to develop new Australian capability in vacuum melting for aero-engine components. He is also currently working on a skills development project in the VET sector. Roger’s areas of expertise include foundry technology, methods development for ferrous and non-ferrous production, advanced heat treatment, non-destructive testing, welding, powder metallurgy, quality systems and additive manufacturing. He has authored over 110 technological publications including patents, journal and conference papers, and a book. He has been the editor of two books on aluminium metallurgy.
In 2014 he was awarded Victorian Engineer of the year by Engineers Australia. Roger is an advocate for Australian manufacturing, and is a part of the Victorian Skills Commissioner’s Industry Advisory Group where he represents the ATSE. He also is the deputy chair of the Victorian Defence Alliances Submarines Committee. Roger has led business-to-business R&D initiatives and has an outstanding record of technology commercialisation in the global automotive and aerospace industries.
Friday presentation: An Evaluation of Mechanical Properties and Part Quality in Investment Cast Ductile Irons
A program of work to study the effect on mechanical properties and part quality of alloying elements on investment cast ductile iron was conducted. In difference to ductile iron cast into sand molds, investment cast ductile iron is different because the ceramic shells into which the metal is cast, are preheated at high temperatures (e.g. 700-1000°C). This has an effect of minimising chill since the mold is hot, but also changes the cooling rate of the cast parts and hence the propensity to form pearlitic structures. Results of production tensile samples for over 40 melts have been collated. Causes of abnormal results (high or low ductility, high or low strength, combinations of high strength and ductility or low strength and low ductility) will be presented with reference to the content of carbon, sulphur, and magnesium, as well as the well-known pearlitizing elements such as copper and tin. It will be shown that there are simple ways of predicting mechanical properties before a part is cast based on the melt chemistry.
A model is proposed for qualifying the role of pearlitizing elements on the ability to achieve specific grades of ductile iron, and how quality may be more significantly impacted by the presence of defects such as (magnesium) oxide films, abnormal carbon morphology, and carbon content than by the proportion of pearlite and ferrite. Methods for achieving high levels of ductility together with high strength will be discussed in context.
Saturday presentation: Quality and aluminium castings
In manufacturing, quality is a measure of excellence or a state of being free from defects, deficiencies, and significant variations, where (high) quality is brought about by the strict and consistent adherence to measurable and verifiable standards to achieve uniformity of output that satisfies specific customer or user requirements. The “cost of quality” is actually the cost of poor quality, since non-conforming products increase total product cost and lengthen (delivery) lead-time.
A dual approach to product manufacture can substantially reduce cost, and therefore increase competitiveness. Firstly, advanced product development can systematically design in quality so that problems are resolved at a pre-production stage. Secondly, process controls can build in quality to the manufacturing method itself. Unfortunately, and in many cases, product development is often based around desired component function rather than design for casting, which means that once a drawing of a part is accepted for manufacture by a foundry, for example, only process controls remain as a means to improve quality and therefore reduce cost.
Techniques of examining and quantifying quality as it relates to aluminium castings will be presented. A methodology will be discussed that may be used to produce a universal metric for evaluating quality, which is based around what proportion of a theoretically perfect casting is achieved in practice. It will also be shown how this process has physical meaning and can provide the basis of design safety factors. Examples of utilization will be provided for several different casting methods as a means to demonstrate utility of the process.
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Damian McGuckin Damian has been working in Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) for over four decades. He started Pacific ESI in 1986 after a one year stay in Europe working at the leading edge of the aerospace industry at a time when such work did not exist in Australia. During that time, he used virtual prototyping software tools to help design the shield that was to protect the Giotto satellite from micro-meteorite impact from the tail of Halley’s comet. Since then, he has continued to help local industry exploit the benefits of the latest advances in such virtual prototyping technology, especially in the context of virtual manufacturing processes, virtual acceptance testing and virtual sustainment. He has been involved in the virtual casting of metals for over two decades. He has worked with a range of industrial customers and research consortia in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Europe and the US in the aerospace, automotive, mining, maritime, off-shore and defence sectors. |
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John Mills John has over 30 years' experience in the Australian manufacturing industry across a broad range of sectors. Combining a professional engineering background with post graduate business skills, consulting experience and plant management roles, John has a unique ability to work effectively with personnel at all levels in an organisation. John has held senior management positions with leading Australian and international companies working to achieve world-class results. Being able to grasp technical issues and their financial impact on business performance, John assists organisations to understand current performance limitations and can provide guidance on how to achieve business excellence through strategic, action-oriented improvement activities — which achieve positive financial impact. John adds value to organisations he works with by challenging employees and managers to use various forms of innovation ranging from process improvement through to new product and service development, and new business model creation. |
The Entrepreneurs' Programme is the Australian Government’s flagship initiative for business competitiveness and productivity. The Business Evaluation service provides access to a national network of experienced business advisers and facilitators to assist Australian manufacturers to improve business practices, become more competitive, and take advantage of growth and collaboration opportunities in order to increase business’s capability to trade in Australian markets and/or markets in other countries. John is on one of the Business Advisers based in Sydney and will explain: • the free business review process, • opportunities to benchmark current performance using industry data, • how to use a Balanced Scorecard to generate improvement opportunities, • why digital business capability is becoming important and • how to access $20k in matched funding to engage Consulting assistance to grow revenue, profitability and productivity.
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Keiran Slattery Keiran Slattery is Managing Director of Hayes Metals Pty Ltd which is the Australian Arm of New Zealand's Hayes Metals Group, a 3rd and 4th generation family business first established in Auckland in 1927. Keiran commenced his career in the ANZ Bank, Sydney working mainly in International Trade roles during which time he obtained an Export Management Diploma. He joined Austral Bronze Crane Copper Limited in 1981 as Export Manager until 1990 after which he became NSW Sales Manager of Nonferral and finally National Marketing Manager of the Nonferral Recyclers Group. |
| Glen Thiele Glen Thiele is a Director at Spectrosource Pty Ltd and is responsible for sales and servicing of Belec Spektrometrie Opto-Elektronik GmbH arc/spark Optical emission spectrometers in Australia and New Zealand. Glen has a Higher diploma in Electronics from CPUT, a BCom from UNISA, a MPM and MBA from University of Wollongong. Glen is also a member of the Australian Foundry Institute, NSW branch. |
Chemical Analysis of metal samples using Optical Emission Spectroscopy (OES)
Chemical analysis of metals samples using Optical emission spectrometry (OES) is reviewed in terms of principles, instrumentation and methods. Arc/spark OES is the most widely used method for analysing the concentrations of chemical elements in solid metal samples in the foundry environment. It is a quick method of analysing solid metal samples to the required precision and accuracy. The method is a relative technique which relies on the calibration of the OES using known standards. The precision and accuracy of chemical analysis results is dependent on a well-prepared sample which is sparked on a calibrated spectrometer in a temperature controlled industrial laboratory environment.
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Joe Vecchio Joe started in the Foundry Industry as a Pattern Maker and is now Operations Manager of Northern Iron and Brass Foundry. He has also held the position of AFI National Secretary for just over 4 years. Joe has two presentations at the AFI National Conference in 2019. One is in relation to his recent attendance of the “The WORLD FOUNDRY ORGANIZATION TECHNICAL FORUM” in Slovenia, and the other is in relation to electricity pricing affecting the Queensland Foundry Industry. ch. |
Presentation 1: 2019 World Foundry Summit report
Presentation 2: Queensland electricity tariffs
