It can be difficult for the U.S. military to source certain aircraft components from U.S. manufacturers. That was the central problem tackled at the Defense Logistics Agency’s Casting and Forging Summit on Sept. 4 at Fort Belvoir, where AFS participated alongside government officials and other industry representatives.
Chief Technical Services Officer Steve Robison represented AFS and gave a metalcaster’s perspective on the obstacles and opportunities for foundries that produce castings for military applications. The summit was part of a push by the White House to strengthen the U.S. manufacturing and defense industrial base and supply chain.
Three working groups were established after the meeting. Robison will co-chair the Industry Practices team. Also on that team at the recommendation of AFS are AFS members Elton Cooper (Charlotte Pipe), Robert Littlefield (Chicago Magnesium Casting), Zach Gurtner (Bremen Castings), Jiten Shah (Product Development & Analysis), and Mike Formanek (Carley Foundry). The Technical Data & Quality Team will be co-chaired by AFS member David Weiss (Eck Industries). Paul Czerwien (Chicago Magnesium Casting) is also on that team. The Business Development and Contracting Team will include AFS member Anthony Ortega (Denison Industries).
All three panels hope to conclude their work by December. For information, contact Robison at srobison@afsinc.org.