definition
strict definition
foundry
A place where raw metals are poured into molds to produce finished products or parts.
A foundry is an industrial facility where refined or smelted metals are melted down and poured into casting molds to produce products or parts with specified shapes. This does not include lighter-scale forms of metalworking.
Casting gives the molten metal a specified shape in a mold. The metal has already been refined or smelted before this forming operation.
Smelting extracts metal from ore, while the foundry uses metal to make shaped parts or products. Lighter forms of metalworking remain outside the industrial foundry scope.