CASTING INNOVATIONS
Facility Improves Efficiency, Quality in Coremaking Capabilities A 215,000-sq.-ft. job shop in Santa
Catarina, Mexico, FA Foundry (formerly known as Fundición Águilas) pours both gray and ductile iron. Te facility pro- duces castings ranging from 220 lbs. to more than a ton. Serving a wide variety of industries, from mining and hydraulic to medical and food and beverage, FA Foundry used to produce a majority of its cores, both nobake and shell, via vibration and hand compaction. Fernando Morales, FA’s manger
of technological development, began to explore automated core production methods for a number of reasons. “Really, we wanted to produce higher quality cores,” he said. “But we also wanted to lower labor costs, improve our consistency and then look to serve markets that require more complex cores.” Tose three reasons led Morales to begin shopping around to replace what had been a labor-intensive process.
After a series of technical visits and consultations, FA Foundry reached a deal with Laempe Reich, Trussville, Ala., for the installation of an L40 Coreshooter. With a shoot volume of 65 liters, this machine was installed in November 2013 because of its ability to produce large and often complex cores with tooling configurations specific to FA’s demands. In the year since installation, FA
Foundry is producing all of its shell cores in the L40 and continues to convert nobake cores. “We are still converting some of the nobake cores that we were producing by hand,” Morales said. “We’ve seen very good results. We’re using less sand. We’re using less personnel. We are using more space because the machine is faster than what we’re used to. But we’re learning to control inventory.” Te conversion from hand-
compacted cores wasn’t always easy
for FA Foundry. When production started in January 2014, the process moved slowly at first due to problems with core coatings and resins. But Laempe Reich, with parts/service support, helped FA personnel opti- mize its capabilities with the newly installed coreshooter. “Tat also was one of the reasons
we chose Laempe,” Morales said, in reference to the technical support. “Tere are other manufacturers out there, but they don’t offer service directly to Mexico. It was very con- venient that they had someone in our same city. It was much easier to make the transition.” While FA Foundry continues to
convert its remaining cores to the automated system, Morales noted the available capacity has positioned its coremaking department to match increased capabilities in other areas of the facility.
The newly installed coreshooter can handle FA Foundry’s larger, more complex cores.
Since moving to an automated coremaking process, FA Foundry has reduced labor costs and improved consistency.
December 2014 MODERN CASTING | 43
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