My foreman told me my riser placement was 'like throwing darts blindfolded'

I was pouring a set of 12-inch gear blanks for a local machine shop and had three out of ten come back with shrinkage cavities. He pulled me aside, pointed at my gating diagram, and said I was putting the risers too far from the thick sections. I switched to placing them right against the heavy parts, like he showed me, and my scrap rate dropped from 30% to under 5% in a week. Has anyone else had a simple layout tip make that big of a difference on castings?

3 comments

3 Comments

nelson.finley1mo ago

My old boss said the same thing about feeder placement.

paige8701mo ago

It's wild how often the right answer is just moving something a few inches closer.

fiona_scott4417d ago

Ngl, moving something six inches can save you ten minutes of walking every single shift. People act like it's lazy, but it's just efficiency. The small adjustments add up fast when you do the same task fifty times a day. A lot of problems really are just a matter of positioning or access. Once you see it, you can't unsee it.