FAQs

We have a fully operational investment casting foundry in Manchester, but we also offer many other metal casting processes. These range from die casting to metal injection moulding – we can advise on the one that is best suited for your needs and the requirements of your project. In addition, we also offer a variety of casting treatments and finishes, so you can be confident that your parts will be designed to perform optimally no matter what.

Dean Group specialises in many different sectors. We have extensive experience working with a wide cross section of the industry, from oil & gas and aerospace to automotive and defence. Take a look at a more comprehensive list of our markets in our website, which can help you to know whether or not we can help – similarly, browse our case studies to see examples of our work.

Yes. Please make an appointment by calling us on 0161 775 1633 and ask to speak to our sales team. We’re more than happy to have you visit our investment casting facilities.

We will discuss your project with you from start to finish, and our design team will help you to create the perfect parts. This is the key to the success of our projects, as we prefer to be involved at the earliest opportunity.

Yes, this is what Dean Group specialise in. We’ll make sure that the parts are fit for purpose and of the highest, repeatable quality at the right price.

For your convenience, we accept several different CAD file formats at Dean Group:

2D: Solidworks, PDF, JPEG, DWG and DXF

3D: Solidworks, Parasolid, Step, ACIS SAT and IGES

At our investment casting facility, we are capable of manufacturing parts that range from a few grams to about 30kg in steel and are 500mm long – we’re also capable of creating components that weigh up to 180kg and measure 1m long via our supply partners.

At Deangroup for our investment castings we standardly work to the VDG P690 D1. For further information please refer to our Tolerances page.

Rapid prototyping is available as an option either in our UK facility or overseas-supplied. By choosing rapid prototypes for your project, you can benefit from a swift product turnaround, product validation prior to full-scale roll-out and direct comparison testing of alternative design concepts, just to mention a few of the advantages this process offers.

Lead times vary depending on the complexity of the project but are, typically:

• 6 to 8 weeks for tool development and samples
• 6 to 14 weeks for production

This will depend on whether the project is sourced in the UK or overseas. Prototypes can be produced quicker as tooling is not required.

Our aluminium investment casting (ELITE process) is similar to the well-known SOPHIA® casting process and produces high-integrity pressure-tight aluminium castings for the aerospace, military, defence, electronics and automotive industries. This process offers many advantages, from thin wall section parts and consistent high range tensile results to good surface finishes and flexible production volumes.

Most materials can be used in our casting processes. Please refer to our materials page to learn more about the technical information and specifications of the metals we use at Dean Group – and to find out which one will be best suited for your project. We also utilise a range of exotic materials which you can find in our materials section – most air melt alloys are available from overseas, including titanium.

We operate under ISO 9001:2015 and our supply partners have TS16949. This guarantees you are always getting high quality services and products, as we aim to maintain the highest standard of quality throughout the lifetime of your parts.

We’re also members of the Cast Metals Federation.

Each project is specific and so are the batch sizes. If the correct parameters are met we can provide one off’s or hundreds of thousands of products. It all depends what your requirements are.

We have long-term supply partners from around 2002. We believe in building strong, lasting relationships with only the best suppliers, so we can continue to offer you outstanding services.

We believe it’s all about risk management. Cheap is only cheap if you can use it.

We are a family-owned manufacturing company with high moral and ethical standards. Our long-serving and highly experienced staff members, as well as our technical and balanced approach to each project, ensures that we’re always offering the best when it comes to product quality and customer service.

The majority of Dean Group’s work is for the home market. However, we do have a number of key export customers that we service from our Manchester facility.

08:00-16:45 – Monday
08:00-16:45 – Tuesday
08:00-16:45 – Wednesday
08:00-16:45 – Thursday
08:00-13:00 – Friday
Closed – Saturday
Closed – Sunday

You can find us in Irlam, Manchester, UK.

You can contact us by filling out our enquiry form, calling us on 0161 775 1633 or emailing us on info@deangroup-int.co.uk. We are always happy to offer advice.