When you least expect it.I had the good fortune to travel to Northern Italy Northern Italy comprises of two areas belonging to NUTS level 1:
In Montebelluna, Italy, I had the pleasure of touring a family-owned, iron job shop, Fonderie del Montello, that epitomized a world-class casting facility. From its technology to its business operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets , it appears as if the plant is following the "How to be Successful in a Global Casting Market" handbook page by page and succeeding. Now, this is not an automotive or high-production metalcaster. This facility ships more than 50,000 metric tons of ductile ductile /duc·tile/ (duk´til) susceptible of being drawn out without breaking. duc·tile adj. Easily molded or shaped. ductile susceptible of being drawn out without breaking. (80%) and gray (20%) iron per year on one cope and drag In foundry work, the terms Cope and Drag refer to the upper and lower parts of a two-part casting flask, used in sand casting. The flask is a wood or metal frame, which contains the molding sand, providing support to the sand as the metal is poured into the mold. green sand line producing 80 molds/hour with 215 employees. While it is the fourth largest iron caster in Italy, this would be nothing more than a mid-to-large-size caster in the U.S. It pours castings from 20 to 450 kg on two shifts, five days a week for the agriculture, construction, mining and railroad industries. These are efficient statistics for a caster its size, but this plant is more than numbers. Capacity, Technology & Automation Investment--This facility has spent millions annually since 1997 upgrading every facet of production. It has added four automated grinding machines grinding machine Machine tool that uses a rotating abrasive grinding wheel to change the shape or dimensions of a hard, usually metallic, workpiece. Grinding is the most accurate of all the basic machining processes. that reduced grinding time by 70%, a new cope and drag molding line, a new casting cooling and shakeout Shakeout A situation in which many investors exit their positions, often at a loss, because of uncertainty or recent bad news circulating around a particular security or industry. Notes: During the dotcom boom and bust, numerous shakeouts occurred. system that includes a manipulator to remove castings after shakeout, a paint line, a new 80-ton furnace (with a second to be added in the next six months), and a robotic coremaking cell for its top 50 jobs. With this investment, sales have nearly tripled during the same time period. Environmental Investment--Regular housekeeping and organization are performed throughout the plant to keep its aisles clean, and skylights are used overhead to keep the facility bright and airy air·y adj. air·i·er, air·i·est 1. Of, relating to, or having the constitution of air. 2. High in the air; lofty. 3. Open to the air: airy chambers. 4. . In addition, 10% of its annual capital investment has been dedicated to environmental upgrades. Value-Added Services--The firm performs painting in-house and machining and subassembly sub·as·sem·bly n. pl. sub·as·sem·blies An assembled unit forming a component to be incorporated into a larger assembly. Services through partner facilities to deliver finished packages to customers. In addition, it provides casting design assistance to convert steel fabrications into ductile iron Ductile iron, also called ductile cast iron or nodular cast iron, is a type of cast iron invented in 1943 by Keith Millis[1]. While most varieties of cast iron are brittle, ductile iron is much more ductile, as the name implies. castings. Benchmarking--The firm's management has instituted a total quality management system. In addition, its president began an ad-hoc consortium of European casters casters the small rubber wheels on surgical trolleys, patient stretchers, mobile equipment. conductive casters the casters are impregnated with carbon to facilitate the dispersal of static electricity from equipment. that benchmark against each other by sharing key performance data from their operations (from productivity to environmental expenses) on an annual basis. Marketing--Along with its manufacturing growth, the firm has pushed itself from a domestic supplier of castings (100% in the '90s) to a European supplier (60% domestic and 40% rest of Europe), with the goal of being a global supplier in the near future. It credits this growth to defining its niche and marketing to the customers that fit this niche without wavering. Normally, I do not use this page of the magazine to exclaim ex·claim v. ex·claimed, ex·claim·ing, ex·claims v.intr. To cry out suddenly or vehemently, as from surprise or emotion: The children exclaimed with excitement. v. the virtues of any single firm. But this manufacturer provides a blueprint for the rest of the industry to follow to become world class. This blueprint is not one established by high-production, automotive-type facilities, but instead one built for the family-owned job shop--the bread and butter of our global industry. The reality is that this metalcaster embodies everything experts believe is necessary for the future of the industry. I now have a job shop to which I will compare every other plant in the world. Alfred T. Spada, Editor-in-chief If you have any comments about this editorial or any other item that appears in MODERN CASTING, email me at aspada@afsinc.org. |
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