sections are molded,” Campbell said. “If you see a 30 to 300 hp Evinrude engine, the cylinder head, blocks and exhaust systems are produced in this plant. We also make a four-stroke crankcase cover and a water-cooled exhaust manifold for our Sea-Doo boats and watercraft.”
What It’s Doing When Parker Racor came to BRP
Spruce Pine with a potential new design for a fuel delivery system in the mid-2000s, the fuel and filtration sys- tems manufacturer envisioned a 10-lb. aluminum component molded using four foam pieces. “It was a challenging part, one of the best examples of how you take some- one new to lost foam and help them understand the value of it,” said Glover Kerlin, BRP Spruce Pine’s metallurgi- cal engineer. “It had braided hoses and connectors surrounding the housing, and we quickly realized we could incorporate passageways into the casting itself.” Te engineering
team created a design with seven independent passages, improving the way fuel was able to flow through the part in the process. Te component was eventually produced as a 17-lb. part which con- solidated many of these components into a single casting using eight foam pieces glued together. “It really exploits the value of lost foam,” Campbell said. In order to win new business and maintain its existing customer base, BRP Spruce Pine focuses on properly marketing the capabilities of the lost foam process and main- taining the highest level of technical proficiency possible. For example, on an exhaust system part, BRP Spruce Pine was able to save the customer $75 per unit by creating a single casting from what was originally a 28-piece
assembly of components. Te challenge is getting customers on board early enough in the process to realize those types of savings. “Te level of understanding is still
very low,” Campbell said. “Te recent decision of General Motors [to transi- tion from lost foam to precision sand on some parts] has raised a level of concern with some. We do see that as a bit of a challenge. Te companies that are intrigued make the mistake of not reaching out to the foundry process early enough to take advantage of the design opportunities afforded by the lost foam process. Quite a few of the parts we see are already designed for semi-permanent mold, sand or diecast- ing. Tese designs aren’t taking full advantage of what lost foam can offer.” If BRP Spruce Pine is contacted
before a casting design is established, the company can think big picture and determine whether multiple compo- nents can be consolidated. “Tat may make the casting more
expensive, but if you look at the overall value stream, your bill of materials is going to be lower,” Campbell said. “And when you have [multiple post- casting connections], you have the risk of warranty failures. You eliminate those joints with a sound casting.”
What It Is Te lost foam plant in Spruce Pine
was originally built with the purpose of adding value to the two-stoke outboard engine via additional block and head complexity and part consolidation. Today, value-added pervades everything the plant does, according to Campbell. “We are full service, from raw
materials to finish-machined parts and some assembly,” he said. Te company offers heat treatment,
impregnation, corrosion-resistant coat- ing, painting and machining opera- tions in-house. Much of the focus on value-added services has emerged since BRP Spruce Pine was forced to prove its worth to its investors in 2006. “Purchasing indi- viduals want to source from the machine shop,” Campbell said. “Te cast- ing company is removed. We took the approach that we want to bring [machining] in house and provide that service. Fifty percent of the product we send out has some form of machining.” BRP Spruce Pine also
considers its foam pattern production a value-added service. While some lost foam providers out- source the production of their foam, the company believes maintaining that proficiency in-house is critical to their success. “Te success of this
The quality of BRP’s castings are highly dependent on how the molten metal ad- vances through the foam patterns.
26 | MODERN CASTING February 2012
entire process centers around the density and fusion levels of the foam,” Kerlin said. “What is important to us is the consistency. Te quality of the foam is so important. If you have that supplied by an
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