What a three days it was in Milwaukee for the annual American Foundry Society Metalcasting Congress. Lawton Standard was part of the three-day event which ran April 22nd -April 24th at the Baird Center.
Lawton and its family of companies had a great time interacting with old friends and making new connections at the event. It was also great to see team members from our new partnership with Renaissance Manufacturing Group at the convention, as well as members from our other companies including Temperform, AIA, Northern Iron and Machine and The C.A. Lawton Company.
Lawton leadership team enjoys time at AFS
Our leadership team, including CEO Alex Lawton, CFO Tim Flannery, President Paul Suber and RMG-Lawton Standard Sales and Services President Phil Knoebel, enjoyed meeting with other industry leaders, checking out demonstrations and displays and reconnecting with members of our Lawton Standard family from around the country.
Tim Flannery, Lawton Standard’s CFO, shared some of his thoughts on what excites him about being at AFS. “What I’m excited about at AFS this year is our ability to introduce everything we’ve been able to bring together. The RMG team, the Lawton Standard team, everyone we’ve assembled over a number of years here.”
Gloria Webber, General Manager at Temperform, also talked about the excitement of AFS. This was Gloria’s first year at the AFS Metalcasting Congress. “Meeting all the people. I really like visiting with all of our vendors who have exhibits here, networking with other foundries.” Gloria went on to say “I think it’s important to be here and support our own industry. Make sure we’re out there loud and proud.”
Great turnout for AFS 2024
This year’s AFS saw over 2,700 attendees including customers, colleagues, prospects and students. Lawton Standard was one of 250 exhibitors at the convention. Our team had a great time interacting with the crowd, handing out some “fiery” Lawton Standard hot sauce and coolers and making new connections in the foundry industry.
More than just a meet-and-greet
This gathering is much more than just a meet and greet. There were plenty of innovative and intriguing lectures, keynote speeches and hands-on demonstrations over the three days of AFS. It was all an effort to enhance foundry operations, improve efficiency and elevate quality in the processing of metals.
Our own industrial engineer, Nick Knotts, gave a presentation on judging the effect of penetration and mil thickness on core wash performance in PUNB steel applications. It was part of the Molding Methods and Materials Division presentations. The findings in Nick’s presentation may be utilized to eliminate the need for multiple coats of wash and to better determine the ideal wash baumé or specific weight for different wash compositions.
Looking ahead to the 2025 AFS Metalcasting Congress
At the conclusion of this year’s AFS Metalcasting Congress a new American Foundry Society President began her term. Angela Schmeisser was named the president for the 2024-2025 term. She is the managing director of St. Marys Foundry in St. Marys, Ohio.
Next year’s AFS Metalcasting Congress is scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia. The event runs April 12th– 15th at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.