North American Die Casting Association

NACDA BVM: What challenges and changes do you anticipate happening in the industry over the next fewyears? Udvardy: “Changes in technology will continue and two main areas are produc- tivity and overall cost, so, becoming more energy efficient.That is probably the best way to stay world-competitive. If you don’t have a niche market that can com- mand a higher price and profit margin, then it has to come from increased pro- ductivity.One of the emerging technol- ogies that can assist in that area is with smart machines and machine learning. “We continue to look at what alloy changes we can make to produce a higher performance end casting.Typically those are smaller, incremental changes. Anything to make the mold that pro- duces the die last longer or draw heat out more quickly to solidify the molten metal faster is beneficial; also, producing ever-increasing geometric complexity and thin walls.The thinner the walls, the less metal is utilized, hence less metal melted, and less energy consumed.” BVM: Does the Association have any new initiatives planned? Udvardy: “Yes,we’re working on some- thing we’ve not offered in the past–an Association health plan. It would be through a third-party broker, but when we look at issues that come through the industry, certainly, healthcare costs are one of those.NADCA feels if we can as- There are a couple hundred corporate members, and we also have individual members–the price for them is lower but so is the benefit level. Corporate memberships get the highest level of benefit as far as services, discounts on publications, education, and training. Non-members pay the list price on all our saleable items, education and training. Individual membership is around 3,000, and that number has stayed fairly steady over the years. Some people decide not to renew, and different people become members.You lose some and gain some. “Avenues of communication include electronic, via email and our extensive website, and hard copymailing.We send out a weekly e-newsletter, and special emails and hard copymailings, depend- ing on what information we’re trying to get out, such as press releases.We have a distribution of key contacts at all of the die casting plants and our die casting supplier member companies. “In terms of networking,we have an- nual conferences–an Executive Con- ference, Plant Management Conference, and a trade showwhich is our Congress. We have a larger trade show every three years and a smaller one the two years in between. Our large show,where robot- ics and machine manufacturers actually bring equipment,was held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis this year and will be again in 2021.The show in between, our Congress and Table Top Exposition, changes geographic location. Next year it will be in Cleveland,Ohio.”