The foundry industry plays a central role in modern technology. However, its future depends not only on machinery, materials, and market dynamics, but also on people, their knowledge, skills, and the surrounding corporate culture.
At present, the industry is at a pivotal moment. It provides essential components for sectors such as aerospace, medical technology, defense, mobility, mechanical engineering, and energy. Without precision cast parts, many advanced applications, from turbine systems and medical implants to safety-critical technologies, would not be feasible. Despite this importance, the industry remains largely unknown to the general public, and this lack of visibility is becoming an issue.
During the 34th EICF in Seville, psychologist and executive coach Dr. Sharon Grossman from Florida delivered a keynote speech to international representatives of the investment casting industry, offering a direct and engaging perspective on these challenges.
Future Challenges in the Foundry Industry: Talent, Visibility and Skills Development
The foundry industry is facing a decisive transformation phase. Its long-term success will depend less on technology alone and more on people, specifically talent attraction, skills development, and knowledge preservation.
A central topic of Dr. Sharon Grossman’s presentation was the growing challenge of attracting new talent into the foundry industry. As experienced professionals retire, younger generations are increasingly drawn to more visible sectors such as IT, consulting, or modern skilled trades.
The core issue is not relevance, but perception. The foundry industry plays a critical role in aerospace, medical technology, energy systems, mobility, and defense. However, this contribution is often not visible to potential entrants.
To address this, companies must strengthen their presence early in the education journey, through schools, universities, vocational training programs, digital platforms, and structured career guidance initiatives. Greater visibility is essential to ensure long-term workforce sustainability.
Another key message was the need for stronger communication about the industry’s real-world impact. Young professionals are increasingly motivated by purpose and meaning in their work.
Rather than focusing only on production processes and materials, the industry must highlight its role in enabling technologies such as robotics, sustainable mobility, aerospace innovation, medical implants, and energy transition systems.
By reframing casting as a high-tech enabler rather than a traditional manufacturing field, the sector can significantly improve its attractiveness as an employer.
The widening skills gap remains a major structural challenge. Many specialized foundry competencies are not fully covered in standard engineering or technical education programs. As a result, even highly qualified graduates often require extensive onboarding to understand industry-specific requirements.
To close this gap, structured training systems are becoming increasingly important. These include internal academies, mentoring programs, partnerships with educational institutions, hands-on learning opportunities, cross-training initiatives, and continuous professional development.
Such approaches are essential not only for skills transfer but also for preserving decades of accumulated industry expertise.
Building Culture to Secure the Future of the Foundry Industry
Leadership emerged as a key success factor. Highly skilled technical specialists are frequently promoted into management positions without sufficient preparation. However, leadership in today’s foundry environment can no longer depend primarily on instruction and control; it increasingly requires clear communication, constructive feedback, employee development, trust, and the active involvement of teams.
Equally important is the transfer of knowledge. In many organizations, critical process expertise remains largely with experienced employees. Without systematic documentation and sharing, this knowledge is lost when staff retire. To prevent this, companies need structured methods for preserving expertise, such as video documentation, process manuals, mentoring programs, job shadowing, digital knowledge systems, and the targeted use of AI-supported tools.
A central message of the keynote was that securing the future is also a cultural task. Organizations must foster working environments in which people want to stay, develop, and take responsibility. As a practical example, Dr. Grossman presented the use of short daily team meetings, often referred to as “huddles.” These brief sessions support recognition of employees, help gauge team morale, encourage continuous improvement, address operational challenges early, and increase transparency around performance.
The recommendation for the industry was deliberately pragmatic: avoid attempting large-scale change all at once. Instead, start with one team, test new approaches over a 90-day period, evaluate the outcomes, and scale what proves effective.
Overall, the message was clear: the foundry industry must communicate its value more effectively both externally to attract talent and customers, and internally to strengthen engagement among employees and leadership alike. Companies that succeed in attracting people, preserving knowledge, and deliberately shaping their culture will not only secure their own future, but also enhance the long-term resilience of the industry as a whole.
