The addition of the new molding line has boosted production by 12.5%.
Weigel said. “We wanted to broaden our capabilities, so we could meet more of our customers’ demands. We saw a real need for this new auto- matic molding line.” By 2013, 14 years after the instal-
lation of its first automatic molding, Fall River was ready to actively pur- sue a secondary automatic molding line after a steady period of growing sales. Fall River largely services the water meter and plumbing indus- tries, which remained relatively stable while the housing market fluctuated in the wake of the recent global recession. Many of Fall River’s customers were seeing increasing demand because of municipalities looking to generate revenue through the use of water meters, which fea- ture large cast brass housings. “If a town puts in a new road,
it’s not going to see any financial benefit from that,” Weigel said. “But if you expand water metering in your
infrastructure, you will capture more revenue. Many of our castings are heading to these types of applica- tions, which allowed us to have some record months when other foundries were struggling to keep the lights on.” With interest rates relatively
low, Fall River approached poten- tial upgrades on strong financial footing, but an internal obstacle in the casting facility had to be dealt with first. The plant had roughly 80 tons of sand storage to handle both automatic and manual lines. Adding a second automatic molding operation would overly tax the sand delivery system, to the point it would need to be revamped and expanded. “We’re a job shop so, much of
the time, we don’t have the luxury of running ahead,” said John Vick, executive vice president. “We have to meet our customers’ requirements
for on-time delivery. We couldn’t shut down for an extended period of time to install a completely new sand system, which made things a little trickier.” Fall River’s maintenance super- intendent Dale Schultz, though, brainstormed a way to avoid an extended shutdown that would cause significant problems in the supply chain. He realized the casting facility could continue to run near its current production level while preparing for the eventual switch to the new system. Plans called for keeping the existing muller, screening and han- dling system, while upgrading the conveyor belt, two elevators, shakers and additional storage. “We removed one squeezer to
accommodate the improvements,” Vick said. “Te added capacity allowed us to handle the addi- tional demands on sand prepping
October 2015 MODERN CASTING | 29
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