Speakers target cleaning room efficiency, beneficial reuse.

The theme of the 61st annual AFS Wisconsin Regional Conference, "Today's Commitment-Tomorrow's Success," reflected what was on the mind of every industry representative there - how to improve today's operations while keeping an eye on the changing market and future trends. The two-day event, held February 12-13 in Milwaukee, was organized by the AFS Wisconsin Chapter in cooperation with the AFS Northeast Wisconsin and Stateline Chapters and the Univ. of Wisconsin.

Almost 900 registrants attended the conference, taking advantage of the 30 technical presentations and visiting with more than 70 exhibitors at the popular mini-exposition.

Presenters stressed that foundries must be willing to follow the best production methods and keep pace with stricter environmental guidelines in order to see continued success.

Improving Your Cleaning Room Operation

Because cleaning and finishing operations can be inefficient, labor intensive and dangerous, the cleaning room can be a "bottleneck" in a foundry's everyday operation, according to Beecher Hines, special projects coordinator at Auburn Foundry, Auburn, Indiana. He stressed that foundries often update melting, molding and core machines before cleaning room equipment - even though cleaning and finishing operations account for 30-50% of direct labor costs and overall budget. Hines discussed how automatic grinding machines and trim dies can help to reduce overall casting costs.

Advantages of automatic grinding machines include their ability to process larger diameter parts and to perform other custom functions. Trim dies don't leave grind marks, do not require a dust collection system, require less maintenance and are able to process odd-shaped parts.

Hines stressed that because equipment prices can range from $50,000$500,000, the viability of an automatic grinding operation depends on the productivity of an existing grinding work force, the type and amount of cleaning to be automated, hours of operation, and annual quantities and batch sizes for any one part.

"In calculating viability, cost savings beyond labor must be taken into account," Hines said. Foundries that implement an automatic system can expect to see reduced dust control loss and lower power, protective gear, scrap work and housekeeping costs. Workers will face fewer of the occupation health problems associated with manual grinding, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. In addition, these types of machines do not require as much floor space and consume fewer abrasives (trim dies use no abrasives).

Beneficial Reuse of Spent Foundry Materials

Foundries must adequately address environmental, technical and marketing issues for beneficial reuse of foundry byproducts to be successful, according to Jeffrey P. Loeffler, environmental coordinator for Waupaca Foundry, Inc., Waupaca, Wisconsin.

The foundry industry has had to convince regulating agencies and the general public that, when compared to soils, these wastes can be "cleaner than dirt" and are a valuable commodity, Loeffler said. It is up to government to provide acceptable guidelines for reuse.

Wisconsin's NR 538 rule for reuse of byproducts is meant to be a self-implementing program that details testing, classifies materials and categorizes acceptable uses. Under the measure, slag and sand are preapproved, and other byproducts will be approved on a case-by-case basis. Loeffler said he expects this rule to continue to evolve as officials and industry representatives assess how well it works.

The Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison is compiling data on successful reuse projects for a national database. Slag has been successfully reused as a coarse aggregate substitute in asphalt and a coarse or fine aggregate substitute in concrete. Sand has been used as flowable and structural fill, as a fine aggregate for asphalt, as a soil amendment, and as a fine aggregate substitute for concrete products.

Even though beneficial reuse is technically and environmentally feasible, foundries need to educate the marketplace of its advantages, Loeffler said. Foundries in Michigan and Pennsylvania have formed consortiums to look for options for disposal, and both of these partnerships resulted in the development of a processing facility, which markets the treated byproducts. Foundries must be able to provide a low-cost byproduct that is consistent and meets customer specifications, he said.