Metal Casting Program

In 1995, leaders from the U.S. metal casting industry teamed up with the DOE's Office of Industrial Technologies to participate in a special program called Industries of the Future. The program outlines nine industries that use large amounts of heat and energy in their manufacturing processes, one of which is metal casting. Goals of the program include a 25% improvement in energy efficiency and a 30% reduction in emissions for all nine industries by 2010.

Recently, Industries of the Future awarded the SCMEP a $178,400 grant to assist South Carolina's metal casting manufacturers with plant productivity improvements, profitability enhancement, and decreased energy consumption and waste. Up to 50 of the state's metal casting manufacturers - a subset of metalworking and five percent of the state's total manufacturing base - will have the opportunity to take advantage of the funds. The SCMEP has already begun the process of working with metal casting manufacturers in various parts of South Carolina to provide energy assessments and competitiveness reviews. Funds from the grant are being used exclusively to help the state's metal casting manufacturers with energy improvements throughout 2002. The program is an additional component of SCMEP's overall metalworking initiative created to help South Carolina's metalworking manufacturers become and stay competitive in a global economy.

SCMEP is currently looking for metal casting manufacturers in South Carolina to take part in this project. For more information about participation, please contact David Cooper, SCMEP program manager, at 864.288.5687 ext. 215 or dfcooper@scmep.org.