Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 9

As I travel around the world seeing processes of all shapes and sizes, one thing becomes very clear – that melt shops are most often left out of any and all of the latest technology improvements. It seems that everyone gets caught up in the latest molding automation or machining trend and directs most of the attention on those aspects of the casting. Making a part a couple seconds faster or machining a part faster with new tooling seems to garner the most attention and excitement. Watching how excited operators are to try the latest in coolants to increase the throughput and efficiency of the finished part, I often think – how is it that the melting process lacks getting this kind of attention as a way to increase results. The foundry melt shop seems to be the forgotten culture of the die casting industry. Companies will sink plenty of capital into the casting process, machining process, and trim presses, but when it comes to the melting process it is all but forgotten. This paper is making the case for reviewing what I call the “Foundation of the Process,” which is the melting process. With anything in life no matter what it is, if you don’t start out with a great foundation then you will constantly have issues that will plague you throughout the entire journey. Furthermore, having the cleanest metal possible at the correct temperature on a consistent basis, pays off day-in and day-out. To achieve this, think about integrating the melting process. Most often the melt shop is thought of as an entity on its own. Integration however, is one of the best tools available to optimize the melting process. Think about it…. When there is a quality issue with a customer no matter what the failure mode of the failed part, the process that is on the front line to defend itself first is the melting department. Several aspects in the melting area are going to be attacked first: 1. Was the metal cast out of specification? Have the metrology lab results for the day/shift of the failed part. 2. Was the metal cast out of temperature and either too cold or too hot? 3. Was the hydrogen level out of specification? 4. Are the furnaces actually being cleaned on a set schedule? 5. If alloying, information from the charges of each heat. 6. Tapping temperature of each ladle. This list can go on and on, depending on your process. What if you had an integrated system to track all of this information? What if this system would automatically shut down critical aspects of the operation to prevent a part from being produced out of specification? Do you think optimizing your melting process would be of benefit? Sure it would! There are just a handful of foundries I have observed that understand the importance of implementing a fully integrated melting process. I also note that all of these facilities are world class operations and produce extremely high quality, high integrity parts. RICHIE HUMPHREY Aluminum Market Specialist THE SCHAEFER GROUP ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Optimizing Melt Area through Integration. • Eliminating Melt From Customer Quality Issues. • Lowering Scrap, Increasing Productivity, Increasing Overall Efficiency. BENEFITS OF TAKING YOUR MELT AREA INTO THE 21ST CENTURY 6