Dotson Iron Castings

Dotson Iron Castings Plant Tour

Leveraging Manufacturing 4.0 Technologies to Thrive with the Next Gen Workforce

Overview

Dotson Iron Castings started as a blacksmith shop in 1876. Since that time, the company has become a leader in the US foundry market and is known throughout the world as an industry leader.

Over the past 15 years, Dotson has focused on modernizing its facility to lead the industry in lead time, quality, and automation. The COVID crisis and subsequent supply chain and labor disruptions found the company struggling with its best-in-class leadership.

Approximately 60% of Dotson’s employees are new since the beginning of the COVID crisis. Dotson doubled down on Industry 4.0 and leveraged various technologies and concepts to address labor concerns, changing workforce expectations, maintain quality, narrow process variation and improve productivity.

The tour will highlight:

  • The company’s long-term transition from Laborers to Operators to Optimizers.
  • Changes in tool building and design using simulation and 3D technologies.
  • Big data in machine monitoring to allow new maintenance techs to succeed more quickly
  • The use of digital twins in the development of material properties
  • Next Gen workforce expectations from a facility and flexibility standpoint