Eight Years of Decline!

I was shocked when I read this in the German Foundry Association’s (BDG) publication on delivery volumes of 2025, after they cleaned up the post-COVID spike. The published numbers refer only to the German foundry industry, but they are representative of the entire European foundry industry, as the supply chain spans borders.

Let this be a warning to everyone who refuses to change anything in the approach to the market. The business of downloading RFQs from the portals, uploading offers, and waiting for the phone call from the purchaser has been over for a long time. And for everyone who just wants to wait until VW comes around and everything changes, how long do you want to wait?

Around 80% of high-pressure die-casting parts go into the automotive industry. Conserving what once made the foundry industry into what it has become is now a serious business risk. It is time for a change!

This is NOT a Cost Optimization Problem

At the moment, many foundries still have series production parts running on ther machines. But the drop in volume is already visible everywhere. According to the BDG, the machine utilization in 2025 was 75%, which seems rather high for many machine classes. For smaller machines, utilization tends to be closer to 50%.

What happens when these series run out and the next generation is sourced? No one can guarantee that the next generation of the part you’re producing will be like it is today, or if it will be replaced or integrated into a larger casting. What is the foundry industry doing then? The cost of running a foundry, excluding alloy purchases, is relatively steady. Maintenance on machines, tools, and employee salaries are relatively independent of machine utilization. So, there is a limit how much you can optimize the cost basis of a foundry.

Still, all the conferences are filled with presentations showcasing the latest and greatest equipment that reduces cycle time and improves quality. On the software side, tools and solutions get presented for AI implementations in production and administrative process improvements. Additionally, the foundry associations present their efforts to lobby politicians to reduce energy costs and support policy changes.

In an economy where new business is the deciding factor in whether an industry can survive, these are the wrong topics to discuss. At 50-75% utilization with a negative outlook on volumes, no foundry can optimize their way out of this situation from the cost side. What real-world problem did lawmakers actually solve in the last few years? Why is there the expectation that policies will save the foundry industry? No law can fill our foundries’ production pipelines.

This is a Revenue Problem

Okay, there is one law change that could help the foundry industry immediately: governments requiring citizens to buy European middle-class and luxury cars. That is how sales numbers for the vehicles go up, and therefore the volumes for castings. But this law will never happen.

What I don’t understand is:

• Why are there no presentations at any foundry conference about the requirements for castings of other industries?

• Why is no one talking about applying for grants to develop new solutions for other industries?

• Why are there no efforts to market the industry to potential new customers?

• How to solve the overaging of our industry?

I really don’t understand why we, as an industry, don’t spend all our time building strategies to generate more revenue and fill the capacity left behind by the automotive industry. We need to discuss how to effectively market casting’s advantages to other industries. But when I look over the program guides of all the upcoming conferences, I don’t find any of these topics.

Everyone keeps talking about the same topics as ten years ago, when there wasn’t enough capacity on the machines, and every second saved meant a few more castings delivered per day.

But these times are over. Cycle time doesn’t matter when the machine is empty for 25-50% of the time. The foundry industry has a revenue problem, not a cost-optimization problem, but apparently no one has realized that shift.

The Way to more Turnover

New markets have different requirements and approaches. Approaching a non-automotive customer, like the purchasing department of a car maker, loses you the chance of a contract within the first meeting! Additionally, you need to reach and talk to people and companies you don’t know yet.

Let us start the conversation on how we at Casting-Campus GmbH can help you, the foundry, by fully utilizing your machines and producing high-margin castings. Schedule your Free Consultation Call down below.