“Prior to graphing out
our analysis, we probably overcorrected,” Lagrant said. “Now, when we make a change to the recipe, it is automatically and visibly evident we made the right amount of addition.” Further, the melt
additions such as magne- sium and grain refiners are no longer calculated manually. Instead, a touchscreen runs the calculations, so if the crucible is half full, the system provides automat- ically how much to add.
Playing Detective Te manufactur-
ing intelligence system helps Palmer Foundry arrive at the “why” of something faster than ever. When the com- pany first installed its dehumidification system, maintenance personnel were unfamiliar with the equipment and trouble- shooting took a long time. By establishing and then measuring and tracking various data points related to the equipment, such as water tempera- ture and pressure, Palmer Foundry can identify areas where the equipment is not working properly. “It saves us hours and days of
sleuthing,” Logan said. “We can go back and do forensic analysis of all our processes and our equipment.” Tis ability particularly comes in handy in customer relations. Palmer Foundry can show customers how processes were running at the time a specific part was cast. For instance, if a customer calls about a casting received with a rougher surface finish than expected, Palmer Foundry can identify the day it was poured and all the key process parameter in the facility for that day. “Maybe we had a sand rate issue,
which likely caused the surface roughness,” Lagrant said. “And we
look at other sources of contamination. “Tey have to figure things out in a hurry, so it helps to point them in the right area to resolve a problem,” Lagrant said. Logan sees Palmer
Foundry’s manufactur- ing intelligence system as a necessary tool to show its high-tech customers they speak the same language. “Some of our semi-
conductor customers have two hours to fix a problem or they are fined by their cus- tomer,” he said. “They told us we can’t be magicians any more. We have to provide straight answers, and we can give them that.”
Customer Support While Palmer
Jim Lagrant’s background in software and hardware design for manufacturing systems gave him the foundation to build the manufacturing intelligence system at Palmer Foundry.
can show the process owner was noti- fied of the problem, he acknowledged it and corrected it, along with the data supporting it.” Te data knowledge goes the other
way too. One of Palmer Foundry’s semiconductor equipment custom- ers was in a scramble to fix a problem with chromium appearing on the wafer. When Palmer was approached about possibly being the culprit, it had the data to show its processes were in control and operating within specifica- tion. Te customer saw it needed to
Foundry ramped up its manufacturing intel- ligence, it was working toward ISO:9000 cer- tification to become an approved vendor for its semiconductor custom-
ers, which it achieved in 2013. Te metalcaster supplies vacuum-tight aluminum castings to the companies that supply the Intels of the world, as Logan put it. Its castings are used in all processes tied to producing semiconductor technology, including stripping to clean the wafer, etching, planarization and lithography, as well as in the robotic components used in the systems. Te metal chemistries of the castings must be tightly con- trolled so the parts can withstand the vacuum environment. Palmer Foundry ships its large cast- ings (up to 1,300 lbs. shipped weight) to the Midwest, West Coast, China and
Palmer Foundry’s previous owners steered the business toward emerging high-tech markets, producing vacuum chambers for semiconduc- tor, blood analysis and LED manufacturing equipment.
February 2014 MODERN CASTING | 29
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