Metal castings for beginners

Written by: Platform Engineering Manager, RJ Hawkins Fun fact: you are rarely more than 10 feet away from metal casting of some kind! If you are interested in learning about a process that dates back more than 5,000 years and, even to this day, is still the backbone of the manufacturing economy, you’ve come to…

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Engineering at The C.A. Lawton Co.

A successful casting is the result of a close collaboration between the OEM design engineer and the foundry. Our cross-functional engineering and production team meets with the customer to discuss the part’s application, critical dimensions, and performance characteristics. The goal of this deep technical dialogue is to reduce the manufacturing cost of the casting, improve…

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Making a Difference: Wisconsin Humane Society

The Lawton Standard family is proud to have so many remarkable people who give back to their communities. This week, we are looking at the Wisconsin Humane Society and our most recent marketing intern, Olivia Rinehart. The Wisconsin Humane Society (WHS) is the largest shelter in Wisconsin. They are a private non-profit organization that’s been…

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Learn all about a Kaizen

Kaizen is a Japanese expression meaning “change for better” or continuous improvement – whatever you are doing, you can do it better. At The C.A. Lawton Co, we strive for continuous improvement every single day. Breaking apart and putting together The first part of the word, kai, means “to break apart,” and zen means “to…

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9 industries that rely on castings

Metal casters can develop complex shapes in many sizes using a wide variety of materials with unique properties that serve many different purposes. That’s why metal castings are vital to many key industries such as agriculture, healthcare, and mining. Without castings, these industries and the role they play in our everyday lives wouldn’t be the…

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The importance of the casting industry

Many people are aware that manufacturing is important, but far fewer people are aware of how important the casting industry is. It’s responsible for parts that fuel everyday life, the economy and many other industries. As we celebrate this year’s Manufacturing Month, we wanted to take a closer look at the casting industry and all…

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Metal casting industry fun facts

A large part of continuous improvement culture is continuous learning. Many people don’t know a great deal about the casting industry or how important it is to our everyday lives. Here’s an opportunity to learn more about it. According to the American Foundry Society (AFS), in an article entitled Metalcasting Facts and Tidbits written for…

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Shaping the future of the foundry industry

As I mentioned in a previous article about the challenges we face in the industry, the problems we are working to solve now are what’s going to shape the future of this industry. As we find solutions to the workforce, political, and environmental issues we face today, we prepare ourselves to overcome even greater obstacles…

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Overcoming challenges in the foundry industry

Currently, The C.A. Lawton Co. and the industry as a whole, is being confronted by many challenges. As a small manufacturing company within the industry, I think we’re making great strides to overcome them. There are two key challenges that really come to mind. The first of them is labor. Skilled tradesmen and women that…

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Two women reflect on working in the Lawton foundry

For much of its long history, the metalcasting industry has been dominated by men. This has also been the case at Lawton – until recently. Now we have two strong women working in the foundry. We recently sat down with them to learn about their remarkable experiences at Lawton. First, meet Dani. She is 21…

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Casting history: fun facts

While researching our recent articles on the history of casting, we uncovered some interesting facts we just had to share! A heavy metal burial John Wilkinson, the creator of the cupola furnace, had such a passion for iron work that when he died in 1808, he was buried in an iron coffin beneath an iron…

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