America’s most fundamental industry, metal casting, continues to play a critical role in the success of U.S. manufacturing through the production of the high quality castings. In fact, castings are used in 90% of all finished manufactured products.

As an important segment of the larger metal casting industry, die casting produces over one-third of all metal castings. Today, over 500 die casters manufacture thousands of non-ferrous castings: from automobile engine and transmission parts; to intricate components for computers and medical devices; or a desk
stapler.

Die casters contribute over $7.3 billion to the nation’s economy annually and provide over 63,000 jobs directly and indirectly. The die casting industry is a microcosm of American business. 58% of these companies have fewer than 100 employees, while our larger firms are world leaders. To meet the challenges posed by today’s global marketplace, the North American die casting industry is leading the rest of the world with new technology, higher productivity, innovative applications and superior quality.

Die casting is a century old process of injecting molten metal into a steel die under high pressure. The metal, either aluminum, zinc, magnesium and sometimes copper, is held under pressure until it solidifies into a net shape metal part. In modern applications, using computerized controls, die casters produce precision and high- strength products at a rapid production rate. No other metal casting processes allow for a greater variety of shapes, intricacy of design or closer dimensional tolerance.

The die casting industry has long been built on recycling. The metal alloys used by the die casters are produced from recycled raw materials, created with far less energy than is required for virgin alloys. Over 95% of the aluminum die castings produced in North America are made of post-consumer recycled aluminum, helping to keep the aluminum content of municipal solid waste to less than 1%.

Die castings are not hazardous waste and pose no problems in handling or reprocessing. At the end of a casting’s life cycle, a metal reclamation infrastructure exists to reclaim, re-alloy and recycle these parts back into high performance manufactured components and ensure the availability of yet unimagined die castings for tomorrow.

The high technology applications of U.S. die castings helps to assume continued steady growth of the process in manufacturing.

The increased use of lighter-weight metal components, such as aluminum die castings, has spurred growth in the automotive sector. Today, there is an average of 220 lb. of aluminum castings per vehicle, an amount projected to grow to 300 lb. per year by the year 2006.

At the federal level, die casters maintain that the largest government challenges they face are environmental regulations. The paperwork associated with environmental regulations is their primary concern in this management area. The constant effort required to keep up with new rules is particularly problematic for smaller die casters with limited resources and finances.

Regulatory reforms are needed to promote a healthy long-term climate for economic growth.

The automation of equipment, new processes, and the stringent requirements for casting to perform even more difficult tasks pose a great opportunity and challenge to the die casting industry for the future.