P&W Foundry Increases Quoting Volume & Sales through MFG

P&W Foundry has seen a lot of changes in manufacturing and business trends since their beginnings in 1927. Today, with online services like MFG, they can add to their client base quickly, while also continually expanding–and highlighting–their manufacturing services.

P&W Spotlights Foundry Capabilities Through MFG Platform

Bill Laiacono, P&W’s Casting Design and Sales Manager, has been involved with MFG for over 15 years. Four years ago, he suggested that the foundry also join MFG in an effort to increase their quoting volume and number of jobs. Since then, P&W has increased their customer base by 15%, and they expect to keep growing.

Located in Plano, Illinois, the foundry provides the following services:

• Investment casting – Specializing in low-volume and short run casting orders, P&W is also extensively involved in prototype casting development. They offer CAD design, solid modeling, and mold making.
• Machining and inspecting – High-volume machining is available for both non-ferrous and ferrous castings, with advanced Mazak CNC machining services offered in-house.
• Metal fabrication – Custom brazing, welding, and assembly services are available for projects with special metal fabrication requirements.
• Non-ferrous metals – Competitive, high-volume machining is available for non-ferrous castings, featuring a large variety of metals, including brass, bronze, and aluminum.
• Pattern making – Sand foundry patterns can be created in varying degrees of complexity.
• Sand casting – Pouring a variety of non-ferrous metals, typical casting weights range from ounces to over 100 pounds.

Typical casting applications – A wide range of castings are offered, including pump and impeller castings, valve bodies and plumbing fittings, general industrial components, and ornamental castings.

Leveraging the MFG platform, P&W is able to display their foundry’s capabilities, certifications, and site capacity. In turn, potential buyers can search the detailed MFG database for custom parts and submit requests for quotes (RFQs). Registering and creating an account is easy for both manufacturers and buyers.

Connecting with Buyers is Fast, Easy, and Productive

In working with customers from MFG, Bill is responsible for making sales connections with buyers. He begins by examining the details of each RFQ and then either responding through MFG with pricing information–or contacting the potential customer directly via email with questions about designs or other project requirements.

Because P&W operates as a dual foundry, Bill then narrows down which processes will work best for each buyer, usually beginning with sand casting or investment casting. After that, he also assesses tooling requirements and sends drawings out for quotes. P&W works with MFG buyers engaged in many different industrial applications:

“We’re a commercial shop, producing commercial-grade castings,” says Bill. “Sometimes we also get involved in making specialized parts for industries like aerospace and defense.”

Fast Responses to RFQs Leads to More Business

Their strength is in fast response time to business leads and RFQs, complementing the MFG service in terms of providing an excellent customer experience from quoting to production and delivery.

“We pride ourselves on quick turnaround for quotes, but more so we pride ourselves on efficiency and speed in production of the castings,” says Bill.

Through MFG, the foundry has ended up working with customers from all over the US and Canada. Sometimes they are surprised, however, answering quotes for customers who may end up being quite close by. After answering a recent RFQ from MFG, the P&W team was pleasantly surprised to find out their new customer was less than ten miles away. They also ended up ordering around $85,000 in parts just in the last few months, with the potential for the account to end up yielding up to $200,000.

While the goal at MFG is to create a seamless process for buyers to find manufacturers, Bill reports that their user experience with the platform has been very positive too as they receive prompt help and communications as needed.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with MFG through the years,” says Bill. “Just last year we brought in six or seven new customers, and we expect the same or more for this year.”