CPT International 02/2021

Director and co-owner, explains to us
that he learned alot from his previous
work on the automotive sector
management team at ABB and the process-oriented
thinking that this required:
The factory is divided into three
production cells and follows similar
principles. All of the production areas
are connected digitally via amanufacturing
execution system which controls
the entire manufacturing process in real
time. Every production step is carried
out inaccordance with Toyota‘s Poka-
Yoke principle, which detects and prevents
faults. It is supported by aproduction-oriented
and seamless quality
assurance system, which is based on the
strict requirements of IATF 16949 (International
Automotive Task Force).
In the factory, the former ABB manager
proudly points to one of the four
gas-operated furnaces in the first production
cell. „The aluminium immediately
reaches the ideal processing temperature
of 700 °C, at which point it
becomes fluid“, explains Becchetti. „The
next steps are degassing and transport“.
In the meantime, the manufacturing
execution system fully automatically
organizes just-in-time transport
and assigns adriver via the digital network.
The forklift truck is located
nearby and features atablet that
informs the driver which furnace to collect
the crucible from and which of the
16 robot-assisted high-pressure die-casting
presses in the second production
cell is waiting for the liquid aluminium.
Not far from Brescia, the second largest city in Lombardy, Industria Metalli has used the involuntary
break in production caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to establish amechanical manufacturing
facility.
The first step is the
melting process,
which heats the
secondary aluminium
up to the ideal
processing temperature
of700 °C, ready
for the die-casting
presses.
Outsourcing slows down
the flow of materials
Like most firms in the industry, the company
has so far relied on outsourcing:
After the die casting process, the components
have anear-net shape and therefore
have to be taken to anearby
workshop to be finished. Outsourcing
INDUSTRIA METALLI SRL, BASED IN BEDIZZOLE
The foundry has around 100 employees and manufactures components
weighing between 0.5 and 30.0 kg using the aluminium high-pressure die-casting
process, all on aproduction area covering approximately the equivalent
of eight football fields. The product range includes housings for steering systems,
gears and oil filters, supports, brackets, lighting fixtures and much
more. The second-generation family-owned company oversees the entire production
process, from the melting of the secondary aluminium (around 8,000
tons per year), degassing, high-pressure die-casting, heat treatment, shot-blasting,
deburring, mechanical processing and assembly, all with ahigh level of
vertical integration. The quality control process spans the entire company,
from the incoming goods department with aquality control laboratory that
analyses aluminium alloys using aspectrometer, to the X-ray machine for
detecting blowholes and the expensive 3D coordinate measuring machine.
This „cultura di qualità“ is the result of quality management certificates received
for compliance with IATF 16949 (International Automotive Task Force)
and ISO 9001. Due to its sustainable, low-emission production, the company
has also received ISO 14001 certification. www.industriametalli.it
leads to an increase inlogistical considerations
and cost, while quality
decreases. For example, small air
pockets known as blowholes can occur
in cast parts, but these are often not
detected during X-rays and are only
picked up during final machining. The
late detection of these blowholes by
external companies results in significant
delays to the production process and
increases the cost enormously: There is
no immediate quality check after
high-pressure die-casting on the
machine tool. The result: The process
chain becomes slower and the part has
to be melted down and poured again.
These bottlenecks were athorn in the
former manager‘s side.
The turning point came with the
arrival of anew project manager, who
had worked as amachining specialist in
the automotive industry and who
recommended purchasing afive-axis
Heckert X40 and afour-axis Heckert
H40 to assist the establishment of a
CASTING PLANT &TECHNOLOGY 2/2021 11