E-Archive
VOL. 25 May ISSUE YEAR 2024
Articles
in Vol. 25 - May Issue - Year 2024
Seamless Pouring Integration Cuts Headcount, Boosts Productivity and Improves Quality
Seamless pouring in action at Ortrander: it cut the foundry’s pattern change downtime from 4.5 minutes to under 2 minutes while also reducing scrap
DISA, a Norican Group technology, develops and manufactures a complete range of metal casting production solutions for the ferrous and non-ferrous foundry industries. Headquartered in Taastrup, Denmark, DISA is the world-leading supplier of complete foundry solutions and services, as well as state-of-the-art green sand moulding equipment. DISA also offers its class-leading Monitizer digital solutions to support the whole digital journey from data collection to AI-driven casting quality optimisation. Monitizer works in all types of foundries and processes, and with any vendor equipment, to deliver serious process improvements – fast.
German foundry Ortrander cut its pattern change time by more than half, reduced staffing on the line by 30% and cut scrap by about 20% after implemented a digitally-controlled seamless pouring solution, which is supplied and supported by DISA, a Norican technology.
The solution completely automates and synchronises the moulding and pouring sub-processes while capturing valuable process data. The machine-to-machine communication between the moulding and pouring processes is controlled by DISA’s Monitizer® | CIM platform.
“Fully integrated digital synchronisation of moulding and pouring – seamless pouring – makes for a faster, more consistent and higher quality process with less scrap and lower downtime,” says Kasper Paw Madsen, Vice President of Portfolio Development & Marketing at DISA. “With no need for a pouring operator, your DISA line almost runs itself. Seamless pouring accelerates pattern changes, reduces the number of people required, cuts out human mistakes and thereby improves your processes. It also builds an intelligent, digital infrastructure that supports data-driven process optimisation and further automation.”
Automating for speed
The equipment like DISA’s Automatic Pattern Changer (APC) or Quick Pattern Changer (QPC) helps foundries change patterns in as little as one minute. But the bottleneck then often shifts to pouring – specifically, the time needed to manually reposition the pouring device for pours following a pattern change. Integration between moulding machine and pouring controller handles this – and all pouring actions – automatically.
This speed-enhancing automation is particularly valuable for foundries challenged by just-in-time production’s shorter runs and more frequent pattern changes. Implementing seamless pouring at Ortrander cut pattern change downtime from 4.5 minutes to under 2 minutes while also reducing scrap. The foundry needs fewer people to run its line and those personnel require less training too.
“Finding and training new staff is a global challenge for foundries,” says Kasper. “Seamless pouring reduces the need for manual oversight and also improves process speed, quality and productivity. With modern machines, digital systems and best practice experience, you can implement seamless pouring rapidly with minimum customisation.”
DISA Industries Inc.
1606 Executive Drive
30240 LaGrange, Georgia, USA
Tel. +1.630.820 3000
E-mail: disasales@disagroup.com