cases, carriers, slip yokes and wheel hubs for the heavy truck market and hydraulic components, flywheels, steering arms and retainers for farm applications. When Blackhawk executives began to notice poten- tial demand for larger castings, ranging up to 700 lbs. from existing clients, the company soon realized a new market. “We identified the niche and started digging a little bit with our agriculture and off highway cus- tomers,” Gil said. “We never paid attention to com- pressors, and at the end, they found us. Now, large compressors are part of this niche.” Once Blackhawk set its sights on castings from 200 to 700 lbs. (approx. 100 to 300 kg), Gil and his team had two options: expand the current green sand operation or opt for a nobake process to handle the larger castings. Al Alagarsamy, a metallurgist who had previously
worked with Blackhawk before joining the team of experts to help with this expansion, was an advocate for a nobake line, thanks to the process’s lower tool- ing costs and relatively less complex sand system for heavier section castings. “You can still make this type and size of castings
in a green sand flask,” Alagarsamy said. “But costs can go up with the larger castings. The sand system can be very complex. I think Blackhawk made the right choice with nobake.” The lower tooling cost also encourages shorter run
parts, with Blackhawk aiming for orders in the low- to medium-volume range of 500-5,000 parts. “You are able to lower the cost of patterns because
you can use plastic, wood and other materials,” Gil said. “There’s less stress and lower volume, so it’s easy to justify new patterns.” The investment associated with the potential
expansion also favored the nobake option. For 12,500 metric tons per year in additional capacity, the nobake option would cost around $20 million, while an alternative plan to increase the green sand operation by 40,000 metric tons per year would have required $50 million to be competitive. When Blackhawk approached its parent company with the two propos- als, Quimmco opted for the nobake option. “We presented the two alternatives,” Gil said. “And
the board came back and said, ‘OK, let’s first go with the smaller project and see where we’re at.’”
Building a Team Blackhawk began clearing space for its expan-
sion in late 2012 and construction began in February 2013. Plans called for the project to be completed in two stages. The initial $15 million phase included building the facility and installing the molding, melt- ing and pouring lines. The second phase includes an expansion of the existing warehouse and installation of a thermal sand reclamation system. (Sand reclama- tion currently is mechanical.) These additions, with a
各种铸件。包括重型卡车用各种壳体，支架，拨叉和 轮毂和液压元件，农业机械用的飞轮，转向臂和制动 器。当Blackhawk公司高管开始注意到更大一些铸件 的潜在需求，如现有客户最大铸件需求约为300kg， 公司很快就关注这一新的市场。
“我们明确市场定位，并开始挖掘一些我们农业和 非公路的客户，”Gil说。“我们从未关注过压缩机， 最终，客户发现了我们。现在，大型压缩机是我们新 产品市场的一部分。”
当Blackhawk公司把注意力转到200-700磅（约 100-300 Kg）的铸件上时，Gil和他的团队有两个选 择：扩大现有的湿型砂工艺作业或选择自硬砂工艺生 产较大的铸件。”
作为专家加入团队，协助这个扩建项目并曾在 Blackhawk公司任职熔炼工艺师的Al Alagarsamy， 是自硬砂造型线的倡导者，认为自硬砂工艺生产较大 铸件的模具成本更低而且型砂制备相对不太复杂。 “你仍然可以用湿型砂有箱线生产这种类型和尺 寸的铸件，” Alagarsamy说，“但是，成本将会随 铸件变大而升高，砂处理也会变得非常复杂。我觉得 Blackhawk公司选择自硬砂工艺是正确的。” 较低的模具成本也支持生产更小批量的铸 件，Blackhawk公司把订单范围计划在500-5000件的 中小批量。
“你还能够把模具的成本降的更低，因为你可以用 塑料，木材等材料，”Gil说，“由于较低的压力和较 少的批量，因此更换新模板比较容易。” 与扩建相关的投资可行性也有利于自硬砂工艺选 项。选择自硬砂工艺将耗资约2000万美元，每年可 以额外增加12,500吨产能，而选择湿型砂工艺则需 要5000万美元的投资，每年增加40,000吨产能。当 Blackhawk公司与其母公司商量这两项建议， Qui- mmco选择了自硬砂选项。
“我们提出了两个备选方案，” Gil说，“董事反 馈回来的意见， ‘好吧，让我们先从小一些的项目开 始，看看情况。”
组建团队
Blackhawk公司在2012年年底开始为扩建项目清理 场地并于2013年2月开始基建。按计划项目将分两个 阶段完成，1500万美元的第一阶段包括厂房建设和安 装造型线，熔炼设备和浇注机。第二阶段包括现有仓 库的扩建和安装热法砂再生系统（现有的砂再生是机 械式的）。这些附加项，预算600万美元，完成后自 硬砂线将接近满负荷生产。
June 2014
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