铸造工程是一项艰巨的挑战. Whether it’s building a completely new plant or adding onto an existing facility, obstacles come up that are both expected and surprising, 即使是经验最丰富的专业人士. Challenges can stem from the distance between the company and the project, 天气, construction delays or other issues that threaten to turn an idea haywire.

幸运的是这个行业, many metalcasters are making additions or building brand new structures to help their companies grow and better serve customers. 现代铸造 reached out to see how these firms are doing in their construction projects, 他们克服了多大的挑战啊, and what kind of advice they’d give other companies planning to undertake important and possibly transformative projects.

威尼斯注册送38元(威斯康星州沃帕卡)
AFS企业会员威尼斯注册送38元(Waupaca, 威斯康辛州), 日立金属公司, expanded core production at two of its Waupaca-based gray iron foundries, 项目现在已经完成了. One robotic cell is running at Plant 1 and six robotic cells are running 2/3号厂房.

然而，实现这一目标需要一个过程.

第一核电站一期工程占地1.15万平方英尺. ft. 为储存砂芯而增加的存储空间, 第二阶段是25号公路的建设,000 sq. ft. 岩心生产设备. 与此同时, 2/3号厂房, the first phase included the addition of a 岩心生产设备 with three double-wide warm-box coremaking cells. 该工厂还开发了新的机器人工作单元, 一种防砂系统制造技术, 一种分发材料的新方法, 一个新的添加剂系统和一个新的干芯烘箱. 下一阶段在2/3号电站, one new and two double-wide warm-box coremaking cells were moved to the facility. A pair of robotic cells were moved and a robotic cell was added.

In doing this, Waupaca took a legacy foundry process and redesigned it from the ground up. Waupaca reviewed its production process and improved it via Kaizen best practices before designing the space. That allowed it to automate features to achieve repeatable 质量 results, 提高工作人员的舒适度, and leave room to expand to meet future customer requirements. 2/3号厂房, 沃帕卡完成了两个阶段的设计, 工程, construction and implementation within a condensed 26-month timeline while decommissioning existing equipment in order to commission the new cells. This was all done while maintaining production capacity to meet customer orders.

According to the company, the project has clearly had an impact on Waupaca’s operations. The workspace improved for workers, and the customers are happy with the product. The material and process flow is better thanks to efficient and accurate equipment locations and the new technology reduces variation throughout the coremaking process. 员工们拥有更好的人体工程学工作站, 改进了照明和工艺控制.

“It shows what you can accomplish when you bring the best foundry team together, 真正倾听别人的关心和建议, 并寻求合理的解决方案.Waupaca的工程经理Dale Hardel说. “Collectively we have demonstrated that safety and ergonomic improvements, 能源效率, 环保意识, and equipment innovation can be applied in a state of the art fashion to a classic foundry process.”

The project required strong collaboration with all involved. Waupaca engaged its vendors and suppliers early in the process by sharing design models and equipment requirements to provide for the most efficient construction process. Waupaca was able to engage team members across functions and departments to design an optimal workspace through Kaizen and benchmarking best practices. 

沃帕卡也不得不与紧迫的时间作斗争, one that went right through the typically harsh 威斯康星州consin winter. And it also had to figure out when to draw a line between what they wanted and needed to keep the project within budget.

美国木村铸造厂(印第安纳州谢尔比维尔)
8月, AFS公司成员木村铸造美国(绍姆堡), 伊利诺斯州(Illinois)宣布，该公司将在美国设立第一家分店.S. 印第安纳州谢尔比维尔的制造工厂. Kimura Foundry America is a subsidiary of Japanese company Kimura Group, 并将向该设施投资800万美元, 预计将于2018年12月开业.

到2020年将创造20个新的工作岗位, and the company has bought a 10-acre parcel of land with plans to break ground in the fall for the plant, 里面有3d打印设备. The facility will be important for Kimura’s production of complex castings and molds for automotive clients in the U.S.这是该公司正在增长的一个领域.

With a project this important, it shouldn’t be surprising that Kimura painstakingly planned the move. Kimura Foundry America president Yoya Fukuda said the company coordinated with relevant companies and vendors about the technical information needed to start production.

新建筑是木村战略的关键部分, 当它完成时, it is expected to help it better serve its customers in the U.S.

这也是该公司最新发展的一部分, which used an original evaporative casting process (ECP) for around half a century, and supplied mainly bigger castings such as parts for press dies, 机床及工业客户. The company went through a change in management in 2011, leading to a transition in strategy from ECP but also to a direct molding process that allowed them to produce more complicated castings in Japan, 利用3d打印.

但这一变化也带来了后勤方面的挑战. Kimura tried to build relationships with customers to promote the direct molding process but had trouble keeping up with the growing demand from customers in the United States.

“That is why Kimura decided to build facilities to produce castings with the sophisticated 3-D-print technology in the U.S.福田敬二说.

来吸引木村的生意, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation provided $225,000有条件的税收抵免和25美元,培训补助金再增加1万美元.

“Indiana is a global destination for companies from around the world looking for a place to locate, 发展和增加新的就业机会,吉姆·谢林格说, 印第安纳州商务部长. “Kimura’s decision continues a long trend of international companies, 包括许多日本人, 选择让印第安纳州成为美国.S. 首页. 多年来, we’ve been fortunate to develop a close friendship with Japan, and we’re excited to welcome our friends at Kimura Foundry America to Indiana.”

卡姆泰克(伯明翰，阿拉巴马州)
麦格纳(极光, 安大略, Canada) recently cut the ribbon on the 扩张 of its Kamtek facility in Birmingham, 阿拉巴马州, and is in the process of finalizing all of the equipment installations to meet customers’ requirements. 麦格纳花了大约6000万美元扩建了这座15万平方英尺的豪宅. ft. facility that would generate more than 100 jobs at full capacity. The new facility will feature high-pressure diecasting and produce lightweight aluminum front shock towers for a major automaker, 未来会有更多的期待.

“The 扩张 into this new arena of high-pressure diecasting for structural components has opened many doors for Kamtek and Magna,Kamtek总经理助理Rick Zimmermann说. “We now have the ability to provide full assemblies that include these high-strength structural aluminum castings.”

Zimmermann also passed along some valuable advice for companies looking to build similar additions.

“When undertaking a large project such as opening a greenfield site with new technology, one of the most important considerations is a common goal or to set the vision at the start of the project,齐默尔曼说. “Over the life of the project the team has to be flexible, 随着项目的变化, 甚至每天, the team needs to make decisions based on the vision and by keeping the end-goal in mind.”

Zimmermann said Magna worked closely with the local contractors and arranged for daily reviews of the plan vs. 实际的进度，以确保满足计划. 第一个建筑柱于2月11日设置. 1, 2016, and Kamtek was running product at the end of June of that year.

“We had the right team and the right expertise that was needed to fulfill the requirements, 这就是这个项目的不同之处,齐默尔曼说.

Though it wasn’t the determining factor of the project’s success, 天气帮助麦格纳按时完成了扩建. 正如齐默尔曼指出的那样, 伯明翰的雪不多, giving the company the advantage of working through the winter months.

“相反, the rain hindered our progress a little and we had to come up with solutions and work-arounds to maintain the schedule,齐默尔曼说.

但大自然母亲并不是最有价值的. 那是麦格纳团队.

“在项目的各个方面:领导力, 工程, 质量, 维护, 团队成员, 与我们的支持小组一起工作, 我们实现了一个共同的目标,齐默尔曼说. “Simply stated, teamwork was the success of this start up.”

The project’s full impact won’t be known until 2019 and 2020 but it is already having an effect.

“Our sister facilities have already utilized some of the innovations that we have completed here in Birmingham,齐默尔曼说. “我们已经成功地实施了一个更安全的, more efficient and lean layout that benefits Magna worldwide.”

Sain Associates was involved with the architecture of the project, IBI集团完成了建筑设计, and Cooper Construction provided support on the construction manager side.

布雷博(密歇根州荷马)
布雷博庆祝了其26.6万平方英尺的第一次倾入. ft. 荷马, 密歇根, iron casting facility in April 2016 and the foundry began its ramp up phase immediately after the equipment had been run off. The company is currently hiring the third and final shift for the foundry and by the beginning of the second quarter of 2018 should be running at full capacity.

即使设施已经完工, Brembo is still facing the usual obstacles of a new facility.

“We are facing the typical challenges of a new plant (not just a foundry), 招聘和留住最优秀的人才, training the foundry people of today and the future and making sure our new state of the art foundry equipment runs as expected throughout each day,发言人丹·桑德伯格说. ”也, the dynamics of this foundry are interesting in that it is run by a multi-cultural management team, 拥有来自美国的专业知识.S.当然还有美国、波兰、墨西哥、中国和意大利.”

The Brembo foundry, which was an award-winning project for AFS Corporate Member Foundry Solutions & 设计, was modeled after its other facilities across the globe, and having similar processes and equipment contributed to the company’s ability to ramp up at the plant. The management team’s prior experience starting new foundry lines was also helpful, 但这条道路并非一帆风顺.

“当然, not all of our staff is as experienced with the state-of-the-art, specialized foundry process we have developed for the manufacture of brake discs, and even our seasoned staff had to become familiar with some improved processes and equipment we developed specifically for this new foundry,桑德伯格说。. “We are going through somewhat of a typical learning curve.”

Brembo also encountered some challenges with a few of its equipment vendors. There has been some consolidation in the iron foundry business, 这意味着销售铸造设备的供应商更少了. And that unfortunate fact has been a challenge for Brembo as it builds its in-house foundry capacity for the future.

布雷博受益的一个方面是地理位置.

“We believe that 密歇根 offered us a good workforce with a strong work ethic and technical skills,桑德伯格说。. “It appears that our proven foundry processes and this experienced local workforce are coming together nicely.”

The new facility is already paying dividends for Brembo, as it gets close to half of its casting requirements from the facility that’s next door to its 加工 operations. 它简化了他们的产品流程, eliminates transportation costs and other non-value-added movements.

“We are also able to fine-tune certain proprietary chemistries used by Brembo and our customers,桑德伯格说。. “We also are able to better control our entire manufacturing process by having the casting, 加工, 涂装和装配过程都在一个屋檐下.”