The die cell beat its shot target three months running, and the bonus was paid each time. In the same months, the machine shop sent back crates of housings with porosity on the sealing face. Nobody had linked the two. The scheme paid for metal into the die. It never asked whether that metal became a part a buyer would accept.
Why output-only schemes disappoint
Most casting incentives grew from what was easy to count at the machine or the furnace. Quality was left to inspection. That split means the person who can prevent a defect is paid for speed, while the person who finds it is paid a flat rate. Scrap and returns then fall on the owner. A quality incentive moves part of the reward to the result the buyer pays for: a sound casting, on time.
What to measure in each section
Melting deck: heats right first time on the spectrometer, without corrective additions.
Moulding line: castings free of sand drops, scabs, mismatch and swells, by mould code.
Core shop: cores passed at setting without cracks, sag or blocked vents.
Die cell: parts passing the leak test or X-ray, by die number and shift.
Dip room and shell line: shells reaching the pour without cracks or thin coats, by tree tag.
Fettling and finishing: confirmed catches and rework passed first time.
Inspection: escapes found later by machining or the customer, traced to the lot.Each measure must sit within the control of the people paid on it. A moulder cannot fix a wrong chemistry, and a melter cannot fix a shifted core. Where cause is unclear, code the defect as shared and keep it out of any one section's score until the cause is agreed.
Person, crew or section
- Person: suits hand moulders on their own boxes, setters on their own dies and fettlers on their own catches. Marks show who did the work.
- Crew: suits pouring, ladle work and heavy moulding, where several hands touch every casting and blaming one is unfair.
- Section: suits melting and the shell room, where results depend on a whole shift's routine.
Most units mix the three. Start at crew level, which is simpler and less divisive, and move to personal payments only once the marking and records are trusted.
Faults that appear days later
Investment casting shows faults at the pour, long after the dipper finished the shell. Porosity in a die casting may surface only when the machine shop cuts a face. Steel castings meet radiography after heat treatment. If the bonus is paid before those results arrive, it pays for faults. Hold back a share and settle it a month in arrears, once the later checks are in. Trace results back with heat numbers, die marks, mould codes and tree tags stamped or tagged at source.
Building the scheme
- 1
Agree defect codes and their usual cause
A short list of the defects you see most, each assigned to the section that normally causes it, agreed with section leads.
- 2
Mark castings to their source
Heat number, die number, mould code or tree tag on every casting or lot, so results can be traced back.
- 3
Run a shadow month
Work out the new figures in parallel with current pay, money unchanged. Pin each crew's would-be earnings on the board and correct glaring unfairness before anything is paid.
- 4
Set the balance
Most earnings stay in the grade wage. Divide the variable part between output and quality, with the quality slice big enough to alter habits.
- 5
Link it to the safety gate
A quality scheme still needs safe practice as a condition. See the gate in our post on output pay and safe practice.
- 6
Post a weekly board
Output, quality and gate status by crew, on the floor. People change what they can see.
- 7
Review every quarter
Check whether scrap, returns and earnings moved as intended, and adjust codes or weights with the crews.
How schemes get gamed
- Rejects remelted quietly before they are counted. Weigh and log every return to the charge.
- Defects recoded to another section. Let inspection, not the crew, assign the code.
- Blame passed to the other shift. Mark castings by shift as well as by die or mould.
- Month-end rush. Pay on a rolling period, or hold back a share, so the last week matters no more than the first.
Next steps
Base wage, grade and variable pay are designed as one package in our reward strategy service. To see where pay sits against nearby units, look at iron foundry pay benchmarks and investment casting pay benchmarks. Five recurring people issues of melting, moulding and fettling floors are summarised for casting and foundry owners. For the general argument, read why flat pay for best and average hurts. To start, tell us how you pay today.
