Automated finishing improves Dalton Corp.'s profitability.

Neenah Foundry Co.'s Dalton Corp. Kendallville Manufacturing Facility, Kendallville, Ind., is a leading producer of high-quality, highly cored gray iron castings serving various end-use segments of the casting market. As with most metalcasting facilities in North America, Dalton constantly is facing fierce price competition within North America and, with increasing frequency, offshore sources. In response, the organization explores ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency to fend off competition.

In late 1997, the Dalton Process Improvement Cross Functional Team began to investigate methods to reduce costs associated with the finishing operations of their higher volume castings. The finishing room often is one of the biggest drivers in the total manufacturing cost and quality of a casting.

Dalton explored the various options for automating finishing, including robotic cells, automatic grinding equipment, CNC units and trim presses. By late 1999, the firm decided to utilize a high-speed precision trim press from Disa Serf, Oswego, Ill., due to the unit's accelerated performance (850 to 900 castings/hr.) and its trimming ability in both horizontal and vertical planes with extreme accuracy.

Given the selection of the press, Dalton then finished its plan to include robotic loading of the equipment, automatic unload onto a conveyor shot blast machine to remove loose metal shavings, cosmetic touch-up of the trimmed surfaces and an automatic rust inhibitor application taking the finished castings to their packaging location--all with no manpower from the robotic loading up to the packaging point. The firm also added a new shipping and receiving dock adjacent to the cell; here it would receive the empty returning containers, re-fill them, and ship again from the cell location.

By mid-2000, the economic indicators were pointing to a down-turn, and thus lower casting volumes. Based on this, senior management at Dalton decided to proceed with the project to improve the plant profitability while producing lower volumes. The project was approved, and installation was completed in February 2001.

The installation has been running for more than 4.5 yrs. and has processed more than 10 million castings with only routine maintenance. The project cost was $1.2 million, and the payback was seen in less than 11 months, proving that creative planning and implementation can enhance the bottom line.