The Leaders Council forum: Workforce Of The Future
On the 4th April 2023, a small group of business leaders, including Richard Phillips, MD at NovaCast, met at the Caledonian Club in London. The forum was convened by The Leaders Council to discuss how the workforce has changed over the past few years and the resultant opportunities and challenges. There was a specific emphasis...
Sustainability Matters
As part of our commitment to making our business more sustainable and doing our bit to improve the environment we all share, NovaCast has engaged with EcoVadis, the international sustainability ratings platform. We reported in February that we had improved our EcoVadis sustainability score by 61% in the past year. EcoVadis partners with hundreds of...
Choosing the right metal casting process
Selecting the right casting process for making a metal component is an important consideration at the early stages of product design. NovaCast has produced a guide that aims to highlight the considerations, and emphasise the importance of working closely with your foundry's design engineering team.
Metal shrinkage in castings and why it matters
Within this article, we take a look at one of the issues within metal casting that is critical to get right but challenging to understand, even for those within the industry...
See our updated brochure
The latest NovaCast brochure has just been uploaded to our website and includes much more information about the company, our casting options, and our approach to sustainability.
22 March is World Water Day
Every year since 1993, World Water Day (22 March) raises awareness and inspires action to tackle the water and sanitation crisis. It is about taking action to tackle the global water crisis of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is a United Nations observance coordinated by UN-Water. You can find...
NovaCast improves its EcoVadis sustainability score by 61%
In recognition of the remarkable sustainability improvements made during the last year, NovaCast has just been awarded a silver medal by international sustainability ratings platform EcoVadis. NovaCast operates in a traditional industry where sustainability can be difficult to achieve due to the processes involved in a foundry environment. Since taking full ownership and management control,...
Comprehensive First Aid Training at NovaCast
With the focus on rapidly rising costs in virtually all aspects of running a business, it is easy to overlook the importance of health and safety in the workplace. Having a work colleague suffer a life-threatening medical emergency does tend to put everything else into perspective. At NovaCast, we operate in an environment with many...
Use of 3D scanning for reverse engineering and quality control
Over recent years, design engineering departments within foundries, such as NovaCast in the UK, have increasingly become the home to various digital technologies ranging from CAD systems, 3D modelling and casting simulation to 3D printing. We take a closer look at the latest addition to the digital revolution; 3D scanning technology introduced at NovaCast’s Melksham...
NovaCast further supports global initiatives to improve access to safe water and sanitation
NovaCast has been supporting global initiatives to improve access to clean water supplies since 2017, when we supported Xylem’s Watermark initiative. In 2018 we broadened our support by starting regular donations to the Planet Water Foundation, and 2020 we signed up to the WBCSD WASH Pledge for access to safe water and sanitation and hygiene...
How cores extend the flexibility of sand casting
Creating cores is an art in itself and follows many of the principles that dictate the production of sand moulds. Without cores, the use of sand casting would be far more limited. In addition to the ability to introduce more complex designs, internal voids and structures, cores can deliver other benefits. Even where internal voids are not needed...
NovaCast invests in its reverse engineering capability with EinScan HX
The ability to accurately reverse engineer existing castings is essential to any modern foundry. Reverse engineering could be required for a variety of reasons ranging from replication of an old casting where original patterns have been lost to improving mechanical performance or learning from an existing design to replicate or improve it. Whatever the reason,...
NovaCast: Facing the challenges of a sustainable future
When Richard Phillips took over as owner and Managing Director of NovaCast Limited, based in Melksham, UK, he did so with a commitment that the business would move towards a sustainable future. Richard felt that as both owner and Managing Director, he had a responsibility to consider the company’s impact on the environment and to...
NovaCast announces the appointment of Richard Phillips as Managing Director
A new era begins at NovaCast Originally set up in 1976 by Barry Hayward, NovaCast has evolved from a small non-ferrous foundry, serving the UK market, into a substantial international business. Today, NovaCast has customers worldwide and a supply chain that encompasses partner foundries in the Far East. This broadening and deepening of its capabilities...
NovaCast supports Wiltshire Air Ambulance Night Vision Goggles Campaign
NovaCast has been a keen financial supporter of Wiltshire Air Ambulance for several years now through monthly donations and fund-raising events organised by Directors and employees. In addition to understandably high regular running costs, Wiltshire Air Ambulance requests support for specific projects that are essential to the continued operation of this life-saving service. The current...
NovaCast Donates a further $1,000 to the Planet Water Foundation
NovaCast has demonstrated its continuing commitment to supporting causes that enhance quality of life in communities around the world, particularly those where interventions can save lives. Having long been a supporter of Xylem Watermark, NovaCast has just made a further donation of $1,000 to the Planet Water Foundation, one of their partner non-profit organisations. The Planet...
A global response to a global pandemic
The global pandemic has presented manufacturing and logistical issues for companies all over the world. For NovaCast, the challenge has been to maintain the supply of componentsto critical industries at a time when its own supply chains have been under pressure. Every part of our supply chain had to perform to support an Australian manufacturer...
Finishing options for sand-cast components
Sand casting has been one of the processes at the heart of the metal casting industry for thousands of years. Despite the addition of many more casting techniques and processes over the years, sand casting still accounts for 70% of all castings today. It is a highly flexible and versatile process with casting weights at...
NovaCast invests in Synchro ERP system
As part of its ongoing programme of investment, expansion, and modernisation, NovaCast has just upgraded its business management software to Synchro ERP. Synchro is a fully integrated, flexible, and robust software suite developed specifically for foundries. For NovaCast, it was important to find an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that was capable of adaptation to...
The Investment Casting Process
The investment casting process is named after the process of ‘investing’ or surrounding the pattern with refractory material. The pattern itself is made of wax, so the process is also known as ‘lost wax casting’. The investment casting process has been used for many thousands of years to produce idols, ornaments, and Jewellery. It became...
NovaCast: A single-source solution for both ferrous and non-ferrous castings
As any Design Engineer involved in the design for cast metal components will know, the selection of the metal alloy and casting process they will specify can be a complex process. Ultimately, for the Design Engineer, the specification must take account of parameters such as weight, yield strength, toughness, ductility, weldability, elasticity, shear, and thermal...
How the metal industries can play their part in a sustainable future
It has always been widely understood that scrap metal has economic value. With ever greater focus on recycling and reducing the strain we put on our natural resources, there is also a growing appreciation of the environmental benefits metal recycling can deliver. Metals have been worked for jewellery and tools since pre-historic times and over...
Rapid Prototyping: How 3D Printing is making its presence felt in the foundry
As a long-established foundry with its roots in sand and gravity die casting, NovaCast has grown and evolved over the years to become a modern, diverse and international foundry, with customers and production partners around the world. As the business has developed, it has embraced new casting processes, such as investment casting, lost foam casting,...
Analysis and Testing of Metals: The use of Spectrometers in foundries
Over the years, technology has played an increasingly important role in metal casting foundries. NovaCast, for example, uses the latest Casting Simulation Software, 3D Modelling and 3D printing to streamline processes, raise productivity and improve quality. One such area where technology is used to great effect in foundries is the use of Spectrochemical analysis for...