CastAlum, a company specializing in producing lightweight aluminium components for the automotive sector, received recognition at the Powys Business Awards for its innovative utilization of technology.
Established in Welshpool in 1999, CastAlum Limited, boasting a workforce of 150 employees, clinched the prestigious Technology and Innovation Award, generously sponsored by CellPath, during the annual awards event hosted at The Hafren in Newtown on October 20, 2023.
The event, organized by the Mid Wales Manufacturing Group (MWMG) and supported by various sponsors, celebrates its annual awards, which had their inception in 2009. These honours are extended to multiple entities, including companies, organizations, social enterprises, and charities.
Castalum is a prominent high-pressure aluminium die casting and machining centre, specializing in producing intricate components for a broad spectrum of automotive manufacturers.
CastAlum achieved a groundbreaking milestone in the UK by pioneering printed forms instead of traditional steel for die manufacturing. This innovative approach has boosted productivity and quality and enabled the production of increasingly complex components.
In a significant move, CastAlum has expanded its additive manufacturing capabilities by adding a second printer to its state-of-the-art suite. This expansion comes as printed inserts are now an integral part of every die employed by the company.
Furthermore, CastAlum is at the forefront of employee development by utilising Microsoft SharePoint technology. Leveraging a comprehensive database of work instructions, the company has designed a specialised application to monitor employees' training progress, ensuring that each individual's training requirements are effectively tracked and fulfilled.
Greg Howe, the Training Manager of CastAlum, said, "This is only the beginning of a journey to modernising training, and every day, we are thinking of new uses for the technology. We also invest heavily in our apprenticeship programme – many of our employees started as an apprentice. We find as people grow with the business, they gain experience that we will not find elsewhere."
Karl Meredith, the Managing Director of CastAlum, said, "This is a sign that the pioneering work we are doing at Cast Alum is worthy of recognition. Also, I can't emphasise enough how important apprenticeships are to teach skills which Rhys Jones, our additive manufacturing engineer and apprentice mentor, has proven."
Powys Business Awards judges said, "CastAlum have succeeded in truly embedding innovation into their business. Innovative use of new and existing technologies has clearly been championed within the business and encouraged with resource allocation. At CastAlum, technology adoption is endorsed by the leadership team and embraced as a tool to train the next generation of staff."
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