What is the AFS
The American Foundry Society (AFS) is a non-profit association serving members of the metalcasting industry both in the United States and abroad. Through various resources, AFS provides members with advocacy coordination and efforts in Washington, D.C., ongoing technical education through its Institute, as well as the transfer of innovative research and technology to the industry
. Membership is individual or corporate and is made up of three markets, including: metalcasters and producers of metal cast parts; metalcasting suppliers and casting buyers/original equipment manufacturers (OEM’s). Student membership is also extended to future leaders of the metalcasting industry at a nominal cost. The society was founded in 1896 and serves more than 700 corporate members and close to 7,000 individual members including metalcasting suppliers and OEM facilities in more than 41 countries worldwide, covering all metalcasting processes and materials. Today, AFS has more than 44 professional and 37 student chapters throughout North America and its Technical Committee structure includes more than 80 committees and 800 volunteer members. The Technical Committees are led by the AFS Division Council, which is developing and transferring research and technology to the metalcasting industry. Students can obtain membership at a nominal cost by downloading & completing the application on the industry sustainability web page. The AFS Institute hosts more than 30 practical courses, seminars and workshops annually on all metalcasting processes, materials and disciplines, both in-person and onsite at AFS headquarters, in-plant seminars and online. AFS is the world’s largest publisher of metalcasting-related books, technical papers and reports and houses the world’s most-expansive library of metalcasting reference material. AFS is the leading voice for the metalcasting industry with federal and state lawmakers, as well as regulators. The society has taken leadership roles in advocating on behalf of the industry on issues such as OSHA’s proposed reduction of the Silica PEL, ensuring the benefits of regulations justify the costs, expansion of domestic energy production, restoring certainty and enhancing global competitiveness of the tax code, as well as providing adequate investments in our nation’s water infrastructure and highway system. AFS hosts various conferences on focused metalcasting topics, including environmental, health and safety, government affairs, foundry management and human resources, marketing, various casting processes, and aluminum, steel and iron casting. The once-every-three-year CastExpo draws 8,000-10,000 metal casters from across the globe to view the latest in casting technology and services, while the annual Metalcasting Congress showcases technology transfer through technical presentations and papers covering all metal casting processes and materials. As a publisher, AFS solely produces two print magazines, one journal, a specialty publication and is a joint publisher of an international digital publication.
