would struggle and struggle because they would have to wait for the equip- ment to catch up with them,” Lagrant said. “We are proactive now and look- ing at what the equipment is saying.” In addition to connecting to the
Palmer Foundry has nearly tripled its business since 2001.
Foundry’s green sand facility, housed in a separate building.
Using the Data Logan admits Palmer Foundry is
still unlocking everything all the data is telling them. But in just a year and a half, he already is seeing major benefits in environmental conditions and maintenance. A PLC on the nobake shop floor
performs supervisory control on intakes and exhaust fans tied into the environmental controls. When the furnace that breaks down aluminum returns exhausts onto the pouring floor, the enterprise manufacturing intelligence system sees the furnace is at high heat and turns on the fan by the furnace to put all the heat and moisture outside.
On the shakeout deck, Palmer
Foundry would run its 30,000-cfm exhaust fan the entire shift. Now, using the automated PLC, the metalcaster can throttle the fan back when it is not actively shaking out. Fresh air intakes now are controlled
based on how much air is being sucked out of the plant—helpful on those cold winter days when employees found it tough to open doors because of internal pressures. Maintenance personnel can avoid
equipment downtimes with predictive indicators and more quickly trouble- shoot breakdowns when they do occur. When the dehumidification system
is plugged up with dust, sand and pollen to a certain level, an email is
While some pieces of equipment were collecting data, the manufacturing intelligence system integrates the information to summarize it into actionable information.
February 2014 MODERN CASTING | 27
sent automatically to maintenance to change the filters. Similar emails are sent when the current draws on one of the electric resistance heaters drops, indicating a problem with a heating element. Maintenance personnel are alerted of the issue before it is too late and the metal in the furnace goes cold. In sand handling, a vent valve in
the pneumatic transportation system vents out air when sand goes into the chamber, affecting the sand flow rate. Te valve fails over time, so Palmer Foundry tracks how long it takes for the vessel to be filled. As that time creeps up, maintenance can predict when the valve will start to fail. “Previously, the knockout operators
time-series data of the process equip- ment, Palmer also installed a statistical process control system. Tis com- mercial software package automati- cally connects to multiple databases containing transactional informa- tion about raw materials, in-process product process measurements, and laboratory data. Te package scans the databases for new data points, automatically charts the points on control charts, and updates electronic overview dashboards. In addition to having a color-coded dashboard on their desktop, process owners will receive e-mail notifications if the parameter is trending out of control or jumps out of specification. Instituting statistical process
control has led to a few changes in operating protocols at Palmer Foundry, as well. At the casting facility, returns are degassed and stripped of magne- sium, which must be added back in at the melt department to maintain the appropriate chemistry. When the company began collecting data on chemistry analysis of its metal, it wasn’t expecting to see its magnesium content drifting out of specification.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84