July 17, 2006 -- Signicast Corp. has earned a "World Class" rating for quality and efficiency from Volvo Corp., whose representatives recently toured the Hartford, WI, investment casting operation as part of the auto group's review and audit process.
Volvo's officials assigned rating of 87 to the Signicast operation, much higher than their average rating, and proof of the effectiveness of investment caster's Continuous Flow Manufacturing process, according to Signicast.
The company credits CFM for its ability to produce high-quality investment cast parts at a faster rate and lower cost than their competitors. "From designing tools that can be modified very quickly, to the highly advanced robotic automation and storage retrieval systems," Signicast boasts that it maintains a round-the-clock manufacturing operation with fully intergrated scheduling and tracking software, so customers can monitor their order online, track parts details (including blueprints and alloy information), and engineering changes in operations, tooling, and processes.
In order to avoid any unnecessary delays in product delivery, Signicast has added a full-service powder-coating operation to avoid outsourcing the function. According to exec. vice president Bob Schuemann, “Why would we create a high-quality part in record time only to have it sit in somebody else’s production schedule for two weeks?”
And, Signicast has unveiled plans for a 85,000-ft2 expansion, known as "Mod 4."