50th AFS Northwest Regional Conference: NW Foundrymen Focus on Global Casting, Energy Savings.

The 50th gathering of foundrymen for the AFS Northwest Regional Conference held March 8-10 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, focused on the theme of "Foundries in the 21st Century...The Global Perspective." The conference provided the 235 attendees an opportunity to listen to discussions on various topics, including defect analysis occurring at foundries in the Middle East, a joint venture between a Chinese and U.S. foundry in China, and how e-commerce has a chance to reshape the global metalcasting community.

The conference also provided attendees with an opportunity to tour both foundries and casting end-user plants. The end-users that opened their doors were Bombardier, a manufacturer of rail cars for rapid transit systems, and Air Canada, a Canadian airline. Foundry tours were held at Century Pacific Foundry, Ltd.; Esco, Ltd.; Highland Foundry, Ltd.; Robar Industries, Ltd.; Thompson Foundry, Ltd.; and Simalex Manufacturing.

Following is a look at two of the presentations at the conference.

Chinese Joint-Venture

In a presentation titled "Myths, Truths & Perceptions About Chinese Foundries," John Hemmingsen and Percy Chang discussed the joint-venture arrangement between their Chinese foundry, Shanxi Changfeng Wear Parts, and Portland, Oregon-based Esco, Ltd. The presentation focused on how Esco took 55% financial ownership of the foundry in 1998 and began a literal and figurative "cleanup project. Beyond the 25,000 tons of waste that had to be removed from the foundry, Esco had to begin to develop a workforce in the Chinese foundry that previously had been used to a communist culture with little incentive to work, according to the speakers. In addition, it had to teach the workforce how to produce quality cast components.

"We are trying to change a culture that worked just because the government said they should," said Chang. "We want them to develop the same ethic, pride and incentive approach that exists in Esco's U.S. plants."

The 200,000-sq-ft foundry produces high-alloy steel stone-crushing, mining and railroad castings for customers across the globe, including the U.S. It utilizes nobake molding and arc melting, and performs heat-treating and patternmaking in-house.

According to the speakers, there are approximately 24,000 foundries in China, only half of which are legal. Of the 12,000 legal plants, only 1% produce more than 10,000 tons of castings/yr. This percentage is expected to grow exponentially as the Chinese economy continues to embrace Western philosophies, they said. In the last 10 years, the country has seen up to 10% growth/yr. Over the next 20 years, the Chinese government has committed to $84 billion for 350,000 km of highways and $15 billion for gas pipelines to the east side of China.

Reducing Energy Costs

In a presentation titled "How Your Induction Melt Shop Can Survive the PowerCrisis," Mark Eckert, Inductotherm Corp., provided foundries with useful tips to reduce their melting energy costs.

"The key is to understand the complete electrical rate structure and how it affects your operation," said Eckert.

He outlined energy-saving possibilities in four melt areas: capital equipment, operating procedures, maintenance and generators. In regard to the capitol equipment, it is crucial, said Eckert, that foundries re-review the assumptions they made when purchasing melt equipment, such as the number of shifts, the alloy mix, the production level, the casting sizes, and the ladle sizes used to transfer melt. These assumptions often are made based on projections that may or may not have been realized. It may be possible to alter current operating procedures based on actual production to improve overall system efficiency.

Eckert suggested that foundries: melt at a lower peak pour level, melt only four days/week but more hours per day so as to not have to continually reheat refractory; melt during off-peak hours and store the molten metal; and follow proper refractory thickness in the furnace (as provided by manufacturer) because thicker refractory equals higher electrical consumption.