Why did we start the Goldcasting Podcast?

The Goldcasting Podcast, a joint project of Staffan Zetterström and me, has been around for nearly 3 years. And for most of that time, we were the only specialized foundry podcast out there. So, you could also see it that there is no interest in a foundry podcast. But for us, it’s the perfect opportunity to fill that space with the Goldcasting Podcast.

How did we start?

We didn’t just wake up one morning to decide to start a podcast. The whole story starts at the foundry colloquium at the University of Aalen in May 2023. One presentation after another followed the same rhythm:

Hello my name is …
I work for company …
We were founded in year … by … and then …
We are located here and also have subsidies in …
Here is a list of our customers
And now I tell you something about …

These were at least five minutes that sent everybody to sleep. The same low energy and enthusiasm often followed the rest of the presentation. The scope of the presentations was outstanding, but the way they were presented didn’t do the content justice. For example, one guy was presenting a customer project with costs close to 100.000 Euros and a return on investment within three months. Absolutely impressive, but most in the audience missed it as they were already asleep, answering emails, or scrolling social media.

The second trigger for us was when another person presented their new melting furnace technology, and when he was questioned about the investment and operating costs, nothing came up. The same was valid for the other presentations. They were all structured as foundries are charities that do not care about money, rather than businesses that need to turn a profit. What a missed opportunity!

The Image of the Foundry Industry

If you’re presenting these presentations at a closed-door project meeting, it is fine. But when the industry cannot show how fascinating it is to be part of the casting community in front of foundry engineering students ready to enter the industry, we do something completely wrong. Why should someone start in an industry presented in such a boring way, when others are much more present and pay more?

The answer is exactly what we see. The average age in a German foundry is 47, and up to 20% of employees are expected to retire within the next five years. That picture continues in the digital presence. The websites of nearly all foundries have fallen behind the times. Social media, where people spend most of their time, is a vacant space. So, who should take over the retirees’ jobs when the next generation is actively driven away?

The Catalyst for a new Communication Channel

You can imagine that you had a lot of time thinking while sitting in that lecture hall. And it became obvious, the foundry industry needs a communication channel that showcases how cool the industry is and how to make money in this business. But how to do that?

The solution came during the evening program. The served beer catalyzed ideas, and we came up with the idea of starting a podcast. While I was driving Staffan to the airport, we came up with the name Goldcasting and our first topics. Calculating from the audience we came up also with our targets. Staffan stated, “Imagine when we get 100 people to listen to us, we made it”.

Full of energy during the summer, we recorded the first six episodes. After listening to them, it was clear we cannot publish them. They were terrible to listen to. So, we worked more on the scripts, recorded again, and published the first episode in September 2023.

What happend until today?

Since then, we published 64 episodes to date. Like clockwork, every two weeks, a new Gold Nugget hits the platforms. Sometimes, Staffan and I just explain concepts for improving your foundry’s profitability. Other episodes feature success stories from interesting people. And we surpassed our target of 100 people quite quickly. Today we have over 200.000 people watching the videos and listening to the podcast. Additionally, the podcast is already established as a marketing platform and had several sponsored episodes.

If you haven’t tuned in and subscribed to the Goldcasting Podcast, do it now to not miss the insights of our Gold Nuggets!