AFS is excited to announce, in partnership with the Barnes Global Advisors (TBGA), a new Industry 3.0/4.0 focused project titled “Casting Augmentation Tiger Team” (CATT). CATT is a strategic initiative under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy (IBP) Automated Trades initiative, aimed at improving the casting industry’s responsiveness for high-mix, low-volume (HMLV) parts. This project, which started in April of 2026, aims to address casting supply chain schedule and quality constraints in support of the Department of War (DoW).
The initiative will establish a baseline of the state of DoW foundries and develop a repeatable assessment methodology, providing actionable pathways to modernize operations, optimize HMLV production, and apply best practices to legacy part manufacturing.
AFS is supported in this effort by TBGA, the Ohio State University, University of Northern Iowa, Aspen HTS, Precision Casting Technologies, and Tesseract4D.
Please access the project announcement from TBGA or visit the AFS website research page at https://www.afsinc.org/research to learn more about AFS Research Projects.
For more information, please contact Bo Wallace, Assistant Technical Director of Metalcasting Services, at bwallace@afsinc.org.
The American Foundry Society is a dynamic technical and advocacy organization that serves and represents the $53.7 billion metalcasting industry. AFS is the only association serving the entire industry, including all metals and processes, with a three-part focus on advocacy, education, and innovation. AFS also publishes Modern Casting and Casting Source magazines and presents Metalcasting Congress and CastExpo, the largest metalcasting trade events in North America. Founded in 1896, the organization is based in Schaumburg, Illinois, with an advocacy office in Washington, D.C. More information is available at AFSinc.org.