49 COMMUNICATION ISSUE DAVID WHITE Co-Owner D and S Consulting LLC ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Establish a base line • Questions to ask beyond “how much” • Know the longevity of your suppliers Questions to Ask When Buying Melting or Holding Furnaces So many times, in everyday life let alone in business, we forget to ask the most important questions. Sure, we all want to know how much it costs and when we can get it; but there are so many more questions that need to be answered before making a final decision. Something as important as the furnace responsible for producing the metal you are casting needs critical consideration. Let’s get into a few of the important ones: First you need to know where you are in terms of melting efficiency and where you want to be. In order to establish a goal, you must first know where you are in your melting and holding efficiency’s. 1. What is the right furnace for your operation? What are you melting: sows or ingots, scrap, and returns? Do you need to degas and flux the metal? Are you held to a strict standard of metal quality? All of these can determine the type of furnace you should be looking for. 2. Have you calculated your current melting costs? Its critically important to know current melting costs to properly evaluate the savings from a new furnace with better efficiencies. 3. Have you calculated metal melt loss? Metal is still more expensive than energy. You need to know your metal melt loss because of its effect on total production costs. 4.What will your furnace supplier guarantee in terms of melt rate and BTUs/# of metal melted? Many furnace companies make outlandish claims, until you ask them to back up the claims—quantifiable and in writing. Have them include how the unit needs to be operated in order to achieve the melt rate and BTU’s/# melted. The same is true with holding furnaces. Have them include in writing, how to operate the holding furnace to achieve the highest efficiency. In some cases what works in the lab does not work on the plant floor. Having these parameters in writing helps to ensure both proper operation and less finger pointing later on. 5.What is the utility usage on this piece of equipment (and not just the gas but the electricity too)? Utility costs must be accounted for in the total operating costs of this equipment. Sometimes the difference in one type of utility might just convince you to look at the competitors’ furnace because the overall operating cost was less even though the up-front cost was more. Remember up-front costs are a onetime thing but operating costs are for the life of the unit. 6.How is the combustion equipment controlled? Understanding both the type and availability of the equipment’s controller is important. Especially in this market where off-shore parts are harder to come by, knowing where your controllers come from and availability is important. Ensuring uptime relies on the ability to replace this critical part. 7. What brand and type of refractory is used in this furnace? All refractories are not the same! The refractory industry has excelled in developing new materials that contain molten metal better than ever before. With two component Phos acid-based materials that not only contain the aluminum but Continued on next page
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