the metalcasting facility. Additionally, the entire expansion project must be compliant with existing permits as issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
The Approach To determine the best way to
achieve the project objectives, Nortrak reviewed the existing plant layout and evaluated the current functional capac- ity for large manganese alloy cast- ings, before identifying a preliminary plan and design for potential foundry and process improvements. Te plan included the following aspects needed to address the objectives of the expan- sion projects: • required equipment. • required process changes. • future/required foundry layout. • preliminary estimation of required capital investment (project costs). Nortrak emphasized that any infra-
structure and process improvements should be designed to minimize risks to worker safety. Achieving optimum health, safety and environmental conditions are therefore prerequisites in the project. Te project started with an in-
depth assessment of the existing facil- ity and operations to determine the functional capacity of the equipment in place and the interface challenges (logistics, communication, buffers, etc.) between the different production departments in the facility. In order to determine where and to what extent additional equip- ment would be required to achieve the targeted doubling in capacity, a bottleneck analysis was conducted for each department: molding area, melt- ing area, scrap charging, pouring area (including cope lifting and cooling), mold opening and area connecting the sand reclamation and heat treatment/ quenching (Fig. 1). Te bottleneck analysis clearly
indicated the areas requiring additional machinery. For instance, the melting department needs a third furnace for fur- ther expansion, and mechanizing mold transportation and handling will double molding capacity. Te analysis also indicated how certain current equipment could be better utilized by changing or improving the operational flow (logistics) and creating buffers before and after cer- tain equipment. In the charging area, for example, relocating storage will provide
more efficient furnace charging. Nortrak’s proposed new lay-
out adopts process and operational changes designed to maximize existing equipment use where possible (Fig. 2). In other areas, automation will be implemented to optimize the produc- tion flow while minimizing handling. Together, these changes will signifi- cantly improve the plant logistics in the currently available space. Tis allows Nortrak to limit the physi- cal expansion of the building to the strictly necessary for improved produc- tion flow and foundry logistics to sustain future growth.
Process Changes One of the major proposed process
changes will occur in the molding area, which currently produces molds in batches for pouring. To gain productiv- ity, the plant is being reengineered into a dynamic production process split up into multiple steps to accommodate continuous, flexible pouring. Tis allows Nortrak to increase production capacity to the required expansion lev- els within the current available space. Mechanization in these departments optimizes the workflow and will reduce
Fig. 2. The proposed layout to achieve projected capacity expansion a voestalpine Nortrak, Decatur, Ill., is shown. Building extensions are highlighted in yellow. October 2013 MODERN CASTING | 27
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