
Pam Murrell FICME, CMF CEO was pleased to be a guest speaker for the first technical lecture of the new session for the West Midlands, Birmingham and Coventry Branch of the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers.
Celebrating the Best of British Casting was the theme of Pam’s presentation as she spoke about the important work that the CMF is doing through its Castings Industry Net Zero Advisory Panel. The CMF Panel published its Roadmap to a Globally Competitive Net Zero UK Foundry Sector earlier in 2023 and has contributed to a number of UK Government policy documents as well as local and regional initiatives, including the West Midlands Industry Energy Taskforce.
She outlined some of the key asks for Government that have been highlighted by the CMF that would support the industry and UK manufacturing, including highlighting the role of the casting industry as a key part of the circular economy for metals.
“The industry is a key producer of products that are needed for sustainable energy and transport infrastructure, as well as for EVs and as we use secondary and recycled (with embedded carbon) metal cast products should be seen as lower carbon products compared with components made from other materials”, said Pam.
“We are holding our first member’s Net Zero Forum on the 28th of September, with some fantastic speakers and industry experts coming to share their knowledge so this will be a great opportunity to discuss some of the key challenges for the industry around carbon reporting and opportunities for energy efficiency,” she added. “Sharing good practice and enabling our CMF members to discuss industry challenges together is an important part of what we do in support of the industry.”
The Federation is also active in a number of national initiatives around waste and sustainability such as the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge with a case study underway on the re-use of foundry wastes including used sand, as well as work with the HSE to improve the health and wellbeing of employees in the industry through the SHIFT initiative.
Attracting new people and then developing them is also an important area for the industry and Pam outlined how the ‘Foundry in a Dox’ is being used by many CMF member foundries and ICME tutors to showcase casting as a route to manufacture to enthuse the next generation of foundry technicians and engineers. CMF is also supporting ICME with the development of a new virtual reality film for use in schools and collages as part of a significant project to promote casting as a career, funded by the Foundry Training Trust.
ICME National President Martin Dudley FICME, Owner and Chief Executive of the Thomas Dudley Group Ltd had opened the session, following a welcome to the attendees from Branch President Trevor Ayre FICME.
Martin spoke about his plans for the Institute which include making it the ‘go to’ organisation for professional cast metals engineers and technicians in the UK casting and foundry industry. As someone who is passionate about training and professional development, and who is a keen supporter of a number of skills and training initiatives with schools and colleges in his area, Martin invited Members to contribute to a wider discussion about what ICME can offer to the industry in order to attract new members and retain existing ones.
He reminded the Members about the role that ICME is already playing with its range of technical and leadership & management short courses as well as professional development programmes such as the EAL Level 3 Diploma in Casting. Building a community of industry professionals, through social and technical events, mentoring, and celebrating success will, he hopes, help the Institute double its membership over the next 3 years. At the same time the relevance to the industry of the institute will be reinforced with the number of training days delivered to those in the industry, its supply chain and castings users will be substantially increased, helping to upskill foundry business as well as generate income for ICME.
In thanking Martin, Trevor confirmed that it was encouraging to hear about the plans for ICME and that there was a bright future for those young people in the industry with the support of organisations like ICME and the Cast Metals Federation.