IN INVESTMENT CASTING
71st ANNUAL TECHNICAL CONFERENCE HONOREES
2024 INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
PRECISION CASTINGS T
DESIGNED
he 2024 Innovator of the Year award was presented to Designed Precision Castings, Inc. of Ontario,
Canada for their work in the field of process improvement at the ICI’s 71st Annual
Technical Conference and
Exposition in Milwaukee, WI. From Designed Precision Castings:
Innovating Wax Injection In Investment Casting: Leveraging Collaborative Robotics For A Manual Wax Injection The investment casting industry operates within a field that combines advanced technology with a significant amount of manual labour. Meeting the demands for complex, precise, and reliable parts at a competitive cost is crucial for staying competitive in the global marketplace. This project aims to analyse the current manual processes involved in wax injection. The goal is to explore potential areas for low cost low effort automation and assess how this could affect product quality, productivity, and yield. These factors are crucial performance indicators for the investment casting industry. Through the implementation of a five- step DMAIC technique, it became possible to pinpoint various factors that require attention in order to effectively deploy collaborative automation into investment casting wax injection processes. Through extensive analysis
16 ❘ November 2024 ®
Above (Left to right): Development team: Joel J Munilal, Operations Manager, Anil Kumar, Maintenance Technician, RJ Peters, Maintenance Technician.
and exploration, the manual process was thoroughly examined and improved. By implementing collaborative automation in the injection process, significant advancements were made. As a result, the overall production time and cost were reduced by an impressive 95%.
About the Company
DP Cast is a manufacturer of specialised steel and aluminium investment castings for various sectors such as aerospace, nuclear, mining, medical, and commercial. DP Cast prides itself through its customer base from all across the North American region. The primary aim of DP Casts' foundry business is to offer products, processes, and personnel that meet the high standards required in the aerospace industry. Our dedication
Above: Stuart Faria, Company President.
to consistently inventing and enhancing our casting metallurgy and processes has led to the development of cutting- edge techniques and exceptional material quality, setting the standard in the industry. DP Cast acknowledges and values the need of ongoing enhancement in its procedures for sustained achievement and expansion. To ensure the fabrication of aerospace- quality designed components, DP Cast follows a series of processes:
• Tool & Die • Wax Pattern Production • Shell Room Wax Evacuation • Metal Pouring • Finishing • Quality Control (NDT)
INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR
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