{"id":7902,"date":"2026-10-08T07:25:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinametalfoundry.com\/?p=7902"},"modified":"2026-10-08T07:25:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T07:25:02","slug":"casting-lead-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinametalfoundry.com\/pl\/blog\/casting-lead-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Casting Lead Time: Tooling, Samples and Production by Process"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Casting lead time is the number that kills more launch schedules than price ever does. A buyer gets a quote of $41 per part, approves it in a day, and then discovers the first usable casting arrives nineteen weeks later \u2014 because nobody counted the four weeks of tooling, the re-sample loop, or the month on the water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This guide breaks casting lead time into the seven phases that actually consume the calendar, gives realistic week counts for eight processes, and shows where a programme can lose six weeks without anyone noticing. The figures come from production records and published industry practice from bodies such as the American Foundry Society<\/a> oraz NADCA<\/a>, not from sales brochures. If you are new to process selection, start with our przewodnik po odlewaniu metali<\/a> and come back to this page when you are building a launch plan.<\/p>\n

\"casting
Every mould in that queue represents furnace time that has to be booked before your order can run.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What Casting Lead Time Actually Includes<\/h2>\n

Most buyers quote a single number \u2014 “six to eight weeks” \u2014 when what they mean is the production run only. Tooling, sampling, approval and freight sit outside that number and usually add more calendar time than the casting itself. The table below splits the schedule into the phases we track on every programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Phase<\/th>\nTypical duration<\/th>\nControlled by<\/th>\nWhere it slips<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Drawing review and quotation<\/td>\n3\u201310 working days<\/td>\nBoth sides<\/td>\nMissing grade, tolerance class or test requirement<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tooling: pattern, core boxes, die<\/td>\n2\u201314 weeks<\/td>\nFoundry \/ tool room<\/td>\nDesign changes issued after steel or aluminium is cut<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First article sample<\/td>\n2\u20136 weeks<\/td>\nFoundry<\/td>\nNo agreed CTQ list, so the sample gets re-made<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Customer approval of sample<\/td>\n3\u201314 days<\/td>\nBuyer<\/td>\nNo named approver; report format disputed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Production run<\/td>\n2\u20136 weeks<\/td>\nFoundry<\/td>\nFurnace capacity not booked in advance<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Secondary operations<\/td>\n1\u20133 weeks<\/td>\nBoth sides<\/td>\nHeat treatment, machining or coating booked only after casting<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Packing, documentation, freight<\/td>\n5\u201340 days<\/td>\nForwarder<\/td>\nFreight mode decided at shipment instead of at RFQ<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Add the realistic mid-points and casting lead time from drawing release to delivered parts lands between 11 and 24 weeks<\/strong> for a first production order. Repeat orders drop to the production-plus-freight column only, typically 4 to 8 weeks, because tooling exists and the approval loop is a formality.<\/p>\n

Casting Lead Time by Process<\/h2>\n

Process choice sets the floor on your casting lead time before any negotiation starts. Tooling complexity dominates: a wooden pattern plate is days of work, a multi-slide die casting tool is months. The ranges below assume a medium-complexity part (two to four cores or slides), a normal queue, and no design changes after tool release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Proces<\/th>\nOprzyrz\u0105dowanie<\/th>\nFirst article<\/th>\n500\u20132,000 pc run<\/th>\nTotal to ex-works<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Odlewanie w zielonym piasku<\/td>\n2\u20134 tygodnie<\/td>\n2\u20133 weeks<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n7\u201312 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Resin sand \/ no-bake<\/td>\n2\u20134 tygodnie<\/td>\n2\u20133 weeks<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n7\u201312 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shell mould casting<\/td>\n4\u20136 weeks<\/td>\n3\u20134 weeks<\/td>\n3\u20134 weeks<\/td>\n10\u201314 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lost foam casting<\/td>\n5\u20138 weeks<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n4\u20136 weeks<\/td>\n12\u201318 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Permanent mould (gravity \/ low pressure)<\/td>\n6\u201310 tygodni<\/td>\n3\u20134 weeks<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n12\u201318 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
High pressure die casting<\/td>\n8\u201314 tygodni<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n2\u20134 tygodnie<\/td>\n14\u201322 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Investment casting (lost wax)<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n4\u20136 weeks<\/td>\n4\u20136 weeks<\/td>\n11\u201317 weeks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Centrifugal casting<\/td>\n3\u20136 weeks<\/td>\n2\u20134 tygodnie<\/td>\n3\u20135 weeks<\/td>\n8\u201314 tygodni<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Read the last two columns together. Die casting has the longest casting lead time to first part but the shortest production run once the die is qualified, which is exactly why it wins at volume and loses at 200 pieces. The reverse is true for odlewanie w formach piaskowych z u\u017cyciem \u017cywicy<\/a> and green sand: the tooling is cheap and fast, so the first part arrives early even though each piece takes longer to make. Our odlewanie ci\u015bnieniowe a odlewanie w formach piaskowych<\/a> comparison covers the volume crossover in detail, and the permanent mould<\/a> oraz shell mould<\/a> pages sit between the two.<\/p>\n

Why tooling dominates the calendar<\/h3>\n
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A sand pattern plate and a set of core boxes are machined from aluminium or hardwood and can be revised with a few hours of CNC time. A high pressure die casting die is a hardened tool-steel assembly with cooling lines, slides and ejector geometry, and every revision means heat treatment and re-fitting. That difference is the single largest lever on casting lead time, and it is decided at the process-selection meeting rather than in the tool room. Our casting mould and pattern making<\/a> oraz odlewanie ci\u015bnieniowe<\/a> teams quote tooling duration separately from piece price for exactly this reason.<\/p>\n

\"casting
Tooling is the phase you can compress with money; everything downstream of it is queue time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Sample Loop: Where Schedules Quietly Die<\/h2>\n

The most common way to lose a month is a first article that gets made twice. The foundry produces a sample, the buyer measures everything on the drawing instead of the characteristics that matter, finds two dimensions outside an unspecified tolerance, and asks for a re-sample. That loop adds two to three weeks of furnace queue plus a week of approval \u2014 on a programme that was already tight.<\/p>\n