MPI Makes Major Contributions to Investment Casting Industry in 2012

Posted on December 4, 2012 at 8:10 pm

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For MPI, the worldwide leader in wax-room equipment, 2012 was a dramatic year. In addition to developing a new, low-cost, high-quality, wax-injection machine; MPI also achieved ISO: 9001 registered status for quality management, introduced a global service support program for their customers and expanded their pattern and assembly services.

But MPI’s efforts went far beyond just internal accomplishments. They also contributed on a broad scale to the advancement of the Investment Casting Industry as a whole, through education. Bruce Phipps, President of MPI, delivered multiple presentations to industry executives around the globe.

Most recently Bruce presented his paper “Digital Technology in the Wax Room” at the ICI Conference and Expo in Nashville, TN. The paper highlighted the significance of using digital technology for the collection and analysis of key metrics which leads to the highest levels of process control in the wax room.

Bruce also presented this paper to the European Investment Casters Federation (EICF) in Hungary. As an industry expert, Bruce served as an instructor for this year’s ICI’s certification training program.  This one-week course offered annually by the ICI is the premier training opportunity for individuals to rapidly gain the knowledge needed to succeed in the investment casting industry.

Additionally in September, Bruce presented his paper “Automation – The Why and How” to the German Foundry Society in Germany. This paper addresses the benefits of automation beyond labor cost reductions and focused on reducing process variables. It describes how reducing pattern-to-pattern variations and assembly-to-assembly variations results in increased consistency and repeatability in both the wax room and down-stream operations.

“I have been actively involved in the Investment Casting Industry for over 40 years,” said Bruce Phipps, MPI President. “I have had the good fortune to watch the industry grow and change over the years and am proud to be able to continue to share my experience and knowledge with my colleagues in the industry.”

Bruce’s influence was felt at the Japan Foundry Society World Conference in Japan as well. His paper “Profit Through Innovation” described how automating a single process can significantly improve quality, reduce cycle times, eliminate inconsistencies and produce higher casting yields. It defined best practices, techniques and the results that can be expected from automation.

Jeff Rich, GM/VP of MPI, served as an instructor for this year’s Process Control course conducted by the Investment Casting Institute in Milwaukee. The three-day course was attended by investment casters and suppliers from all over North America. The course is strictly focused on the investment casting process.

“Helping educate industry professionals has always been an important component of MPI’s overall mission,” said Jeff Rich. “We have every intention of furthering that commitment in 2013.”

The White Papers and associated presentations may be downloaded from MPI’s website.

More information on ICI’s Certification Program and Process Control Course may be found here.