The Black Country manufacturer Alucast (www.alucast.co.uk), a specialist supplier of sand gravity and pressure castings, has bought MagmaSoft casting-simulation software that will give it the platform to quote for over £1 million of new work.

The Wednesbury-based company says that the software will also lead to a number of new jobs being created, taking
staff numbers over 100.

The software will help the company to speed up time-to-market and reduce the cost of prototyping. It simulates the prototyping process and aids casting and runner design, to provide optimal filling characteristics — essential when producing structural parts for the automotive sector.

John Swift, who became managing director of Alucast last year, said: “MagmaSoft gives our engineers the chance
to test die set-ups to avoid gas inclusions, porosity and cold shuts — in layman’s terms, the opportunity to find the optimal die-casting conditions for each new part.

“What this means to the customer is the chance to avoid timely and often expensive set-up costs for trialling the production process. We know it is going to be in demand with both new and existing customers, and the initial response has been fantastic.

“The automotive sector will be the initial target, but this software can be applied to our work across other sectors, including construction, hydraulics and domestic goods.”