Digitalization: modernizing foundries with little effort

The foundry industry is a traditional industry, and despite many changes, it is an integral part of the economy. In order to keep pace with the cross-industry goal of digitalized production, foundries need to upgrade. Eirich shows that even small retrofits and modernizations are often enough to bring outdated plants up to date and increase efficiency.

Hardheim, July 2024: The foundry industry must not be left behind by the wave of digitalization in other sectors. One key to securing the future lies in modernizing existing plants. Many machines from the 1980-90s and 2000s still work perfectly, but their control systems are technologically outdated. New plants or large investments are not always necessary; retrofitting and minor modernization measures are often enough to bring them up to date. Above all, increasing energy efficiency is a major concern in order to make foundries more economical. A low carbon footprint is becoming increasingly important and climate neutrality is no longer a pipe dream in foundries, but a must in the near future.
Optimization at specific points in existing plants can offer a cost-effective solution. Eirich starts with the control systems - an important lever for making foundries more economical.

Up-to-date thanks to control system conversion
The first step in modernization is to take stock of the current situation to ensure that new sensor technology is used sensibly. An innovative control logic for sand preparation offers great potential.
Intelligent sand management, taking into account a daily model order analysis, calculates new sand and additive requirements in advance. The QualiMaster AT1 inline testing device provides the compatibility and shear strength values with three measurements per batch within 40 seconds, which are recorded and analysed with the "Sandreport" software. Using the relevant batch data from the prepared molding material and the AC1 moisture correction tool, the sand system is controlled according to the specifications and corrected if necessary. Intelligent sand management is carried out using the "SandExpert" software with a predictive calculation of new sand and additive requirements. This means that the molding plant always has the right molding material available for the respective casting product. The used sand is replenished with just as much bentonite, new sand and additives as it loses during the subsequent molding process.
This conserves resources and saves time. The caster can therefore rely on effective raw material management with maximum flexibility in production planning as well as stable processes and reproducible results.

Use of AI-Tools
The digitalization of production is an important step for the future viability of the industry. In many cases, artificial intelligence serves to improve the quality of the product and thus reduce the reject rate.
"There are still unfounded reservations when it comes to digitalization. AI is primarily used to support skilled workers. The strength of these tools lies in their ability to interpret a large amount of collected data in a specific context and thus provide a sound basis for decision-making. Through continuous learning, almost 100% accuracy can be achieved when forecasting technical production parameters," explains Sales Manager Maria-Luise Liepe.
System boundaries can be overcome with a combined data analysis from molding material preparation and casting plant as well as intelligent sensor technology and the "LogLizer" data analysis software. The casting process can thus be viewed, analyzed and controlled on several levels. The data can be retrieved at any time and from anywhere on a PC, tablet or smartphone.