10-Year Survey of Computer Applications in Indian Foundry Industry

摘要

A 10-year survey of computer applications in Indian foundry industry was conducted by IIT Bombay starting in 2000 to understand the penetration of software technologies as well as the benefits and concerns. The survey covered 216 organisations from all over India (159 foundries and tool-makers, 30 OEM firms, and 27 consultants, researchers and academicians ). The foundries represented all major metals, processes and capacities. The survey shows a rapid increase in the penetration of computer applications over the last ten years. Today, 100% of the foundries surveyed use Internet and 75% use CAD/CAM, with reported benefits of customer satisfaction, faster development and cost reduction. In contrast, only 25% of those surveyed use simulation (either in-house or outsourced ), although over half of the participants reported the benefits of simulation in quality assurance and yield improvement. On average, foundries using CAD/CAM and simulation tools reported 30% faster casting development and 50% lower rejection rate, compared to foundries that do not employ these technologies. Five years back, the main concern about both CAD/CAM and simulation technology was cost, whereas today the concerns have shifted to technical support and trained manpower availability. The survey provides many such insights useful for technology strategy planning at foundry level, cluster level and national level.