Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 16

42 Advanced Finishing Solutions for the Modern Foundry SCOTT SHAVER Executive Vice President Equipment Manufacturers International, Inc. ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Robotic cells offer advantages for the modern foundry • Improved quality, speed, and eliminated injury offer outstanding ROI • New robot advances in “off-line” programming • Comparisons in robotic and CNC systems T he modern foundry is an amazing manufacturing operation. While the principles of metal casting are among the oldest manufacturing process, dating back thousands of years; today’s modern foundry must combine sophisticated metallurgical, chemical, EHS, mechanical engineering disciplines into a well-choreographed operation. The most successful modern foundries work to maximize productivity in each unique process and department. There has been hundreds of papers and technical best-practices written over the decades that focus on optimizing the main components of our foundries, melt, sand, molds, cores, handling, etc. Most every foundry is constantly working to optimize these areas of their business. More recently, one of the last steps in the foundry process that is beginning to gain the attention of foundry managers is the cleaning and finishing department. Modern foundries all over the world seem to have one common goal in mind, a holistic automation approach. Today, many steps in the foundry process are automated. • Sand is constantly monitored and adjusted • Molds & cores are made in highly automated machines and use automatic handling systems • Melt & pouring is accomplished with little human involvement • Shakeout & separation is accomplished with little human involvement • Cleaning & finishing – the last department in the process and usually the one department with the highest manpower requirements. This article will focus on the benefits of automated cleaning or finishing cells and de-bunk some of the negative myths. Traditionally cleaning and finishing a casting has benefited from the human operator in that a well- trained operator has the knowledge, visibility, feel, and dexterity to accurately and efficiently clean most castings. These are among the only process steps that seem to warrant the human touch. But the cleaning and finishing department is also the least productive in a foundry, requiring the highest number of man hours with (unfortunately) the highest number of recordable accidents. Most often, the finishing department is the bottleneck in the foundry. Automated finishing cells are offered in two types: computer numerical control (CNC) or robotic. Recent technology advances and thoughtful engineering approaches are quickly pointing interested foundry’s towards robotic cells instead of CNC machines. With a focus on robotic finishing, it’s important to mention the importance of working with a company experienced in the foundry industry. There are hundreds of robotic automation experts in the country, but only a few have knowledge and experience needed for the specialties of the foundry industry.