This is what a buyer checks before they shortlist a metals and metalworking supplier.
What does a buyer check before placing a casting with a new foundry?
They check the alloys you pour, the weight and size range you handle, and your inspection capability, because castings are accepted on internal soundness as much as dimensions. Pattern ownership is the commercial question that follows immediately.
A buyer is moving a casting away from a foundry that has become unreliable, and the pattern is the hostage.
Reviewed 4 August 2026 · Written for foundrys selling to business buyers
What does a buyer check before placing a casting with a new foundry?
What a buyer needs to identify the product
These are the fields a buyer scans before deciding whether you are worth contacting. Missing one of them usually ends the visit without an email.
- 1
Alloys poured
The first filter, and often a hard one.
- 2
Casting process
Sand, investment, die and centrifugal casting produce different parts.
- 3
Weight and size range
A direct yes-or-no on the buyer's part.
- 4
Annual tonnage and volume band
Prototype, low volume and series suit different foundries.
- 5
Machining capability
Whether you supply as-cast or finish-machined.
- 6
Pattern and tooling ownership
The question that decides whether a transfer is possible.
- 7
Achievable tolerance and surface finish
Determines the machining allowance required.
The documents buyers ask for
Not all of them belong on a public page. Naming the ones you can issue is what separates a supplier who can be audited from one who cannot.
| Document | What it proves | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|
| Material test certificateAsked at: with delivery | Chemistry and mechanical properties of the poured alloy | Per shipment |
| Non-destructive test reportAsked at: critical castings | Radiographic, ultrasonic or dye penetrant results for internal soundness | Per shipment |
| Dimensional inspection reportAsked at: first article and on request | Conformity to the casting drawing | Per shipment |
| First article inspectionAsked at: before series release | Full verification before series production begins | Name it, share on request |
| ISO 9001 or sector certificationAsked at: vendor approval | Quality system, plus automotive or pressure certification where relevant | Publish it |
| Pattern ownership termsAsked at: before the pattern is made | Who owns the pattern and what happens at end of life | Publish it |
| Simulation or methoding capabilityAsked at: technical assessment | That solidification is engineered rather than guessed | Name it, share on request |
Where castings and foundry sites lose the enquiry
Each of these is common, cheap to fix, and costs an enquiry that never arrives — so nobody ever reports it.
Alloy list published without the weight range
The two together define a foundry. Either alone leaves a buyer unable to tell whether their part fits.
Pattern ownership not addressed
Every buyer moving a casting has been trapped by this once. Silence is read as a trap being set.
No inspection capability stated
Castings fail internally. A foundry that lists furnaces but not inspection equipment is assumed to be shipping on appearance.
What the enquiry form should ask
A form that collects these can be answered properly the first time. A form that collects a name and a message cannot.
Enquiry form — castings and foundry
Enough to reply usefully, short enough that a buyer finishes it.
- Casting drawing or model
- The only basis for a real quote.
- Alloy and specification
- Determines feasibility.
- Annual volume and batch size
- Drives process and tooling choice.
- Pattern status
- Existing, transferring or new.
- Machining requirement
- As-cast or finished changes the quote entirely.
- Inspection and certification required
- Non-destructive testing needs planning and adds cost.
Questions suppliers ask
How do we win a casting transfer from another foundry?
By answering the pattern question before it is asked. State plainly how transferred patterns are received, inspected and refurbished, who owns them afterwards, and on what terms they can be released. The technical work is rarely the barrier; the tooling relationship is.
Should we publish our inspection equipment list?
Yes, with the equipment named. Castings are accepted on internal quality, and a buyer judging risk wants to know whether soundness is verified in-house or subcontracted. It is also one of the few genuinely differentiating things a foundry can publish.
Is simulation capability worth mentioning?
Yes, in plain terms — that solidification and feeding are modelled before the pattern is cut. Buyers who have suffered scrap from poor methoding understand exactly what it means, and it separates a foundry that engineers castings from one that pours them.
Documents and standards named here are the ones buyers in this industry commonly ask for; requirements vary by market, customer and contract, so treat this as a starting checklist rather than a compliance list. Clearer pages can help discovery and evaluation. They do not guarantee rankings, AI citations, enquiries or revenue.
Illustrative
An enquiry from this search looks like: Casting drawing or model · Annual volume and batch size · Alloy and specification · Pattern status
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