Golden Casting embarks on new era.

In the face of heated competition, this foundry is banking on its new coremaking technology to secure its long-term supply to the heavy-duty truck market.

Mention Columbus, Indiana, to students of architecture, and they'll tell you how the small town (34,000 population) is remarkably ranked only behind New York, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco in architectural quality, innovation and design. Meanwhile, "engine men" would recognize the community as home to Cummins Engine Co., the world's largest producer of 200 horsepower and larger diesel engines. But what really sticks the small town in south-central Indiana on the foundry industry's map is this: it is home to Golden Casting Corp., the last remaining independent U.S. diesel block and head casting supplier to the Class 8 truck market.

Management believes that the 83-year-old foundry has embarked on a new era, and this period is one certain to be considered a defining moment decades from now. The foundry's sole market sector has experienced newfound life in recent years, and it has a new management staff and new technology that will be vital to how it responds to the challenge of new competition.

To secure its future, the firm recently spent $10 million on new coremaking technology and equipment that it believes will significantly boost productivity to better compete with new rivals in Mexico as well as its competitive mainstays from Brazil. Late last year, Golden became the first non-Big Three foundry in the U.S. to utilize an innovative interlocking core technology for producing blocks. Said President Tom Smith, who returned to Golden as president last year after eight years at Cincinnati Milacron and Cummins: "It represented a huge investment fora foundry of our size, but it's intelligent risk-taking for the future."

Last One Standing

Golden's fate as the last noncaptive diesel engine block and head foundry began in the late 1970s and early 80s, in what Larry Critzer, vice president-manufacturing, called the foundry's darkest chapter. "Brazil had just come on stream with low prices and much open capacity when the U.S. economy took a nosedive." In 1980, North American Class 8 truck factory sales plunged 36% from the previous year, and by 1982 sales were only 40% of their totals three years earlier. (Class 8 market information shared is reported by the American Automobile Manufacturers Assn.)

While the half-dozen or so domestic suppliers (in addition to several captive operations) eventually bowed out of the market, Golden was rooted solely in the diesel engine block and head market and had few options, other than attempting to duke it out. In a short period of time, Golden saw its workforce slimmed by 75%.

"We survived by several Cost-cutting measures to reduce scrap and improve productivity through better management," Critzer said, noting that things like a minor investment for an automatic flow coater in the coreroom yielded a 32% productivity improvement. Employees also agreed to contract concessions to help weather the onslaught of competition from the then-subsidized Brazilian foundries in a depressed U.S. economy.

"The biggest key was that we started listening to our people on the floor, put together productivity teams of workers and management and put into use a lot of $1 ideas, rather than searching for the million-dollar one," he said. "We went for the low-hanging fruit quickly."

Change in Ownership

After 16 years of ownership by Textron Corp., in 1990 the plant was sold to Stamford, Connecticut-based American Bailey, who became the sixth owner of the foundry. A newcomer to the foundry industry at the time, it has since bought a former Caterpillar foundry in France, Fonderie de Vernon.

In 1990, while the Class 8 market was at its fourth lowest year since 1979 (and about to drop another 20% in 1991), American Bailey saw that Golden held a strong position in a market in which capability was quickly disappearing. CEO Doug Bailey also believed that an entrepreneurial focus offered the opportunity to improve the plant's operations and better serve customers.

Among the changes made were a strengthening of management, which included pushing decision making "down." Capital was directed toward maintenance to improve machine uptime and process control, and coremaking equipment was rearranged to improve production flow. "Because of the times, we had to be careful with our dollars, but we made a lot of small changes in a careful, prioritized manner," Bailey said. "We also worked to establish controlled processes and recipes, and the prepared sand control systems we put in place in 1992 and 1995 were big steps forward for us."

While Golden's shipments only totaled 26,000 tons in its first year under American Bailey, the picture soon improved. The Class 8 market started showing promise and by 1994 and 1995 factory sales of 225,000 and 245,000 were posted - the market's finest years ever. In turn, Golden's shipments grew steadily, and, last year, the firm was producing nearly twice its 1991 output. Today, the foundry has roughly 30% market share for Class 8 blocks.

The management team has been further upgraded over the past two years, with the foundry handpicking top-level managers from the likes of Honda, Cummins, Flour-Daniel, RCA Thompson, Nucor Steel as well as other foundries. "We needed to improve our ability to support the very good foundrymen already here," said Smith. "These staff changes represented a wholesale upgrade of our technical areas."

Bo Witt, vice president of sales and marketing, is another former Cummins man, who, like Smith, recently joined the foundry. Witt knew the foundry well from more than 10 years as the engine manufacturer's casting buyer. "I always viewed Golden as a fairly lean organization with real know-how. The foundry had technical expertise - especially with complex cylinder heads - that only comes through 15-20 years hands-on with the parts. It's always done a good job of combining good technical background with practical experience to bring tried and true expertise. When there was a casting no one else could make, there was never a question who I wanted to source it from."

While on much better footing today, by no means does the foundry have worry-free sailing ahead. "We've been feeling the pressure from producers in Brazil and Mexico," said Witt. "China, India and Eastern Europe may also try to enter the market in the next three years, and they're hungry, have cheap labor and are willing to take on work at ridiculous prices."

While there's no way we can match the labor rates of some countries, that's only one part of the equation," Smith said. "A U.S. foundry has lower energy costs, better access to materials and logistical services and the access to world class equipment and well-trained workers needed to maintain and operate such technology."

Regardless, Golden found a formidable weapon against its competitors' labor advantage ($1.86/hr in Mexico) - an entirely different method of producing its blocks/heads.

Searching for the Edge

Golden had built its reputation on its prowess in making intricate complex cores and boasted a mature, knowledgeable workforce that had been working on blocks and heads every day of their careers. But American Bailey management knew the foundry couldn't afford to rest on its laurels. It was going to have to continue to be the best coremaking block and head foundry around to be successful, especially as freer trade with Mexico dictated new challenges in the marketplace.

"Coremaking is the competency of this Class 8 business," said Bailey. "We needed the capability in coremaking that would provide dimensional tolerances and inherent strengths for the engines of tomorrow. They will require thinner sections and more significant design challenges that will place even more emphasis on the function and integrity of the core."

Virtually every coremaking option was explored, although only a couple of options offered the foundry anything more than material handling enhancements. Ultimately, Loramendi's "Key-Core" system provided the clearest advantage for blocks. Developed in 1987, the patented system allows the assembly and interlocking of individual cores to solid core packages without using glues or screws.

After nearly two years of concept design, Golden ordered the equipment in September 1996, after the foundry inked a contract with Cummins to produce the 15-liter block for the manufacturer's new Signature 600 series engine.

Because only two employees per shift would operate the system, a new type of coremaker was needed. Four employees (from 82 applicants) were selected by skill level and aptitude and sent to Loramendi's headquarters in Spain for a month to learn how to schedule, operate and maintain the machinery. Their responsibility includes all of the system's hydraulic, electronic and pneumatic components.

In the summer of 1996 (before the system was even purchased), the foundry committed to produce cores via the new system by December 8, 1997. The equipment arrived last September, a 70-ft tower was built in October and a new $1 million air compressor was installed with the system in November. "On December 8, we produced our first core, and the second set went into a shipment that was delivered to the customer on December 12," said Critzer.

The installation marked the first North American application to large diesel blocks, and only the second worldwide. "Right off the bat, we saw the potential for 15-20% cost reduction with the system, and we may be able to stretch that further," said Smith.

Golden's System

The arrangement at Golden is considered a "half" system, as one half of the cores are produced at one time. After one end core and three crankcase cores are produced in the first corebox, they are automatically fed into the core storage unit. Then, the corebox is changed automatically (within 30 sec) and the other half of the package is produced. The crankcase cores are automatically defined, and an unload manipulator then sets the four cores onto the preassembly station, while the other half of the package is retrieved from the storage unit. The semiassembled package is then picked up by the second manipulator and transferred into another fixture.

The interlocking (key) core is then blown, rigidly connecting all cores. The entire core package is then dipped and set on a pallet that transports the package to the Moco drying oven and eventually into the existing core storage system. From there, the cores travel to core setting at the molding line.

According to the manufacturer, the machine provides a core package within a length tolerance of [+ or -] 0.4 mm, with a bore stagger tolerance of [+ or -] 0.2 mm. At full efficiency, it produces 30 packages/hr with only 2 employees.

This new technology eliminates hand definning and hand assembly (bolting six barrels and end cores together). Compared with Golden's conventional methods, the system offers the capacity to produce 5 additional packages/hr, with nearly 20 fewer workers, not to mention the labor hours reduced in the cleaning room.

The system utilizes a standard phenolic urethane amine coldbox system, and features a Klein mixer. The foundry controls the temperature of the sand at 74-82F (23-28C) and uses dry air for the blow and purge cycles.

Some of the benefits of the system over its traditional method are the minimum machining allowances needed. Also, because the same binder materials are used to connect the cores instead of glue and bolts, further problems at the molding line (such as additional emissions during pouring and defects due to glue) are eliminated.

And because the machine uses vertically parted tooling, sand is blown on the coreprint and no blow tube or vent screen marks are seen on the finished casting, said Witt. "It makes one great looking block."

Noting that the operators underwent more than 500 hr of training on the system, Smith said "they've assumed true ownership of the equipment." Added Witt: "You know you're in a different kind of foundry when the core operator spends half of his time on a laptop."

Ready for the Challenge

While the foundry is yet to see the real impact of the new coremaking technology (as only one of three committed parts is in production), it's working hard on areas in which it can make a difference now. Critzer said that the plant has broken a string of records on mold line and coremaking/assembly productivity, as well as internal and external quality records on both blocks and heads. "And they're doing this in an environment with demand levels like this foundry has never seen," he said. Noting that the firm always formally recognizes each record surpassed with some type of event, Smith said: "Very few weeks have gone by as of late where we haven't had some type of recognition."

Smith said the next big push for cost reduction will be in the cleaning room, in which the foundry will look to utilize semiautomatic cleaning to reduce its man-hours per ton even further. Among the items being examined is a manipulator-type blastcleaning unit.

The foundry is still enjoying the benefits of a strong Class 8 market. The market's 215,000-unit shipments last year were second only to 1994 and 1995, and 1998 shipments are expected to make a run for a spot in the top three.

Golden is enjoying the ride of global growth from its customers; in fact, the foundry is now shipping a 28-liter cylinder head to India. Last year, Mack Trucks (Golden's largest customer) increased export sales 54%. Meanwhile, Cummins reported that it reached its second highest sales totals ever.

The foundry is running 35 part numbers regularly and typically sees six redesigns per year, driven mainly by emission and noise reduction initiatives. While yesterday's engine design might have had a lifecycle of 20 years, such initiatives have prompted major redesigns every 3-5 years, opening the door for the foundry to utilize its new technology on a wider scale.

"We're going to continue to be customer driven and offer benefits in cost, quality and delivery," Smith said, pointing out that ISO 9000 certification is scheduled for the fall, with QS 9000 following shortly thereafter. "And we're going to apply the appropriate technology to give great foundrymen the right tools for the job. Our ability to control prices is far less than our ability to improve operations, and that's how we will increase profit margins."

American Bailey and the entire foundry workforce are counting on its new management, new technology and a new market optimism to help make this new era one that is worth its weight in gold.

Golden Casting Corp., an affiliate of American Bailey Columbus, Indiana

Sites: 1.

Casting Data: class 30-50 gray irons.

1997 Shipments: 50,000 tons.

Markets Served: cylinder blocks and heads for heavy duty (Class 8) trucks.

Processes: cupola melting; green sand (one line each for blocks and heads) and nobake (non-block/head jobs) molding; and coldbox, hotbox and shell coremaking.

Size: 338,000 sq ft.

Customers: Cummins Engine, MackTrack, Detroit Diesel and Waukesha Engine.

Employees: 620 (GMP union).

Year Founded: 1915 (Columbus Foundry).

Staff Officials: Douglas Bailey, CEO; Thomas Smith, president and COO; Larry Critzer; vice president-manufacturing; Ray Swali, vice president-engineering; Terry Reutell, vice president-finance; Robert (Bo) Witt, vice president-sales and marketing; Andy Martin, director of quality and technical service; and Gary Starewicz, director of human resources.