Installations - WEAR-TEK

Case Study by Brandon Roy, Wear-Tek

Sculpting Efficiency: Integrating Automation into the No-Bake Casting Process

WEAR-TEK (Add Wear-Tek logo and attached photo of Jack and Jake) FMM no-bake automation expansion expands capacity, improves ergonomics, increases profitability and transforms molding workflow By Brandon Roy, Wear-Tek

Results Matter

Our employees appreciate the benefits that come from advanced automation--no more heavy lifting and crushed fingers, instead there is a multitude of hand signals and emphatic yelling as each station gives all clear to signal the Palmer FMM to rotate. Additionally, our old no-bake was making 16 molds per hour on average. While the increase in molds per hour is a significant metric—our fastest shift on record is producing 32 molds per hour—the FMM has enabled us to transform our molding workflow in ways that were not possible before.
Previously, with large patterns we could only make one or two molds per hour and we would run several smaller patterns in between them. But the FMM does not care what size the pattern is and it does not get fatigued or slow down. We can now run the pattern and make 20 or more molds per hour, regardless of whether they are large or small. With smaller patterns we are able to double them up on the platen, producing the cope and drag at the same time. Also, we have started to optimize patterns from which we make a large volume of castings. For example, patterns that previously produced four castings have been changed to now produce eight castings, making each mold from the pattern twice as productive. Previously the optimized patterns would have been awkward to manually flip over, however this is easily handled automatically with the FMM.
This increased productivity has allowed us to reduce our mold making from three shifts working around the clock to a single shift running the FMM. Odd sized patterns and ones that only require a few molds are still made on a separate closed loop line that also runs one shift per day with minimal staffing and much safer working conditions.
After installing the FMM, employee morale has been high and we experienced an 18 month run of profitable months, even with all the supply chain turmoil. It is still a tough dirty environment, but the improvements are leaps and bounds beyond the physical work we were asking people to do before. I see the FMM as being the core of our no-bake line for at least the next decade. However, I also know that to stop upgrading is stagnation.

Republished with permission from Wear-Tek, Inc.