My crew just poured 500 tons of steel in a month and I'm not sure it's a good thing

We got the numbers back from the office this morning, and our floor hit 500 tons of poured steel in the last 30 days. That's a first for our shop in Toledo. On one hand, it feels like a real win, like we're finally running at the speed the bosses always wanted. The overtime checks were nice, I won't lie. But on the other hand, my back is killing me, and I saw a couple guys cutting corners on cleaning the risers just to keep pace. It makes me wonder if pushing for these big numbers is worth the wear on the crew and the risk of a bad pour. Has your foundry ever pushed for a tonnage record, and did it lead to more problems down the line?

3 comments

3 Comments

robin_lee15d agoOG Member

Cutting corners on risers is how you get a bad pour that costs more than your overtime checks.

sullivan.finley6d ago

Come on, not every job needs the gold-plated risers. A lot of pours are just fine with the basic setup if you know what you're doing. You're just paying extra for peace of mind you might not even need.

milestaylor15d ago

Exactly. A bad pour means tearing it out and starting over. That's not just overtime, that's double the materials, double the labor, and a pissed off client. Saving a few bucks on risers now guarantees you'll lose thousands later. It's the definition of being penny wise and pound foolish.