gm foundry revitalization - amazon web services · afs sand casting conference october 20-22, 2014...

AFS Sand Casting ConferenceOctober 20-22, 2014 – Indianapolis, IN USA

GM Foundry

Revitalization

D.J. Couture

General Motors Company

Sr. Mfg. Project Engineer

Saginaw Metal Casting Operations


GM Foundries• Before and during bankruptcy, GM

considered exiting the foundry business.

• But looking at the business conditions, etc.,

GM Management decided that the foundry

business is a strategic sector to maintain

control of design and partial supply of

specific castings.

• It was decided to maintain internal

production of blocks, heads, cranks and

transmission cases.


GM Foundries• Flint, MI

• Pontiac, MI

• Holden, Australia

• Danville, Il

• Massena, NY

• Tonawanda, NY

• St. Catharine's, Canada

• Saginaw Malleable Iron

• Saginaw Nodular Iron

• Saginaw Grey Iron (SMCO)

• Defiance, OH

• Bedford, IN

• Toluca, MX

• Tashkent, UZ (Joint Venture)

9 CLOSED

5 OPERATING


Previous equipment and

processes• Previous autonomy for plants resulted in

many different processes and types of

equipment across the division.

• Lost Foam examples:

– Rotary drum vs fluid bed reclaim

– Forced vs Natural aging of foams

– Massena L850 transfer to Saginaw


Goal: Common equipment

and processes• Central Mfg. Engineering purchases

common equipment for the specific

process per the Bill of Equipment.

• Launch teams at each plant install and

debug the equipment.

• Results in common equipment and

processes at each plant.


Death Star vs Rebel bases

Death Star• Pontiac

Headquarters

Rebel

Bases• Tashkent

• Defiance

• Bedford

• Toluca

• Saginaw


Commonality

Pros

• Share the spare

• Training

• Common solutions to problems

Cons

• Restricts continuous improvement

• Big problems are BIG problems

• Rebel base resistance


GM Bill of Process

• Alum. Blocks: Precision Sand

• Alum. Heads: Semi-Permanent Mold

• Crankshafts: Green Sand

• Transmission Cases: Die Cast


SPM Bill of Equipment (BOE)• Melting: Stack Melter (w/baghouse)

• Resin: Epoxy Acrylic

• Sand: 50* AFS round silica

• Sand system: rotary blade centralized

mixer with sand delivery car

• Core machine: dual horizontally parted

machine with cope eject

• Core tending: manual for jackets, robotic

for other cores

• Reclaim: thermal fluidized bed 6 tph


SPM BOE

• Casting: 6 station carousel or linear cast

lines

• Finishing: Deflash mill, Vibratory decore,

Degate saw, Defin mill and Visual

inspection

• Heat treat: Rotary T6 or T7

• Pre-machining: CNC machines for Ops

10-40 (Dremel on steroids), leak & flow

testing


SPM Mold

and

Cores


Psand BOE• Melting: Stack Melter (w/baghouse)

• Resin: Phenolic Urethane

• Sand: 60 AFS round silica

• Sand system: rotary blade individual

mixers at each machine

• Core machine: dual horizontally parted

machine with cope eject

• Core tending: fully robotic for all cores,

liners, filters and screens

• Reclaim: thermal fluidized bed, 18 tph


Psand BOE

• Casting: Induction heated liners,

mechanical metal pump, BFR robot

• Finishing: Deflash mill, Vibratory

decore, Degate saw, Defin, shot

blast, water blast, vision system

inspection and visual inspection

• Heat treat: rotary T6 or T7

• Pre-machining: Ops 10-30


PSand Block Core Package

Core package

consists of 15-20

cores along with

screens and filters

Metal Chill


Psand BFR Robot1350 kg capacity (2976 lb)

End effector to hold

core package


Foundry Revitalization

• Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• Defiance, Ohio

• Bedford, Indiana

• Toluca, Mexico

• Saginaw, Michigan


GMPT Global Casting - N&M Programs

6 SPD FWD/RWD Bedford

GF6 Gen 2 Bedford LGE Block

DefianceGF6 Gen 3 & 8 Speed RWDBedford

Gen V V6/V8 BlockDefiance

Gen V V6/V8 HeadBedford

Fam 0 G.S. Block & Crank

Defiance

SGE DC BlockBedford

SGE SPM HeadToluca

Gen V V8 P.S. BlockToluca

PS

SPM

B-DOHC HeadTashkent

HFV6 BlockSMCO

HFV6 HeadSMCO

MGEG.S. Block & Crank

Defiance

DC

GS


Tashkent, Uzbekistan

• BDOCH 4 Cylinder Head

• 2 Stack Melters

• 2 SPM Carousels

• 3 Core Machines

• 4 TPH Thermal Sand Reclaim

• 2 Finish lines

• Heat treatment

• Pre-machining


Tashkent, Uzbekistan


Defiance, OH

• Gen V and LGE blocks

• Reverb and Stack Melters

• 4 Precision sand cast lines

• 24 Core machines

• No sand reclaim (lake sand)

• Finish lines

• Heat treat

• Pre-machining


Bedford, Indiana• Gen V 4 cylinder head

• 3 Stack Melters

• 3 SPM Carousels

• 3 Core machines

• 6 TPH thermal sand reclaim

• 2 Finish lines

• Heat treatment

• Pre-machining


Toluca, Mexico• SGE Head & Gen V Block

• 3 stack Melters

• 3 Linear SPM Cast Lines

• 1 Precision Sand Cast Line

• 9 core machines

• 3 finish lines

• Heat treat

• Pre-machining


Saginaw, Michigan• HFV6 Head & Block

• 3 Linear SPM Cast Lines

• 1 Precision Sand Cast Line

• 9 core machines

• 3 finish lines (1 Psand, 2 SPM)

• Outside heat treat

• Pre-machining


Highlights of some of the

Core Room Equipment


Raw Material Equipment

• SPM: Central SO2 Room

• Psand: Individual Amine Generators

• Transverse bars vs. tensile dogbones

• Sand controlled by weigh hopper

• Resin controlled by flow meter based on

actual sand weight per batch

• Resin recirculation and some temperature

control.

• Core mixers on rails for maintenance


Sand Mixers on Rails

Mixer on

rails to pull

out for

maintenance


Core Machines• Dual machines with separate recipes

• Horizontally parted

• Cope eject

• Family box tooling

• 100, 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 split sand

magazines

• Monitor gas manifold temp and

pressure


Gassing Manifold PressureMay be useful for establishing tool cleaning frequencies

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

2

2.2

2.4

5/1

/20

14

8:5

15

/1/2

014

10

:33

5/1

/20

14

11

:02

5/1

/20

14

11

:19

5/1

/20

14

11

:47

5/2

/20

14

15

:16

5/2

/20

14

15

:42

5/5

/20

14

9:4

45

/5/2

014

10

:01

5/5

/20

14

10

:27

5/6

/20

14

7:2

05

/6/2

014

9:4

85

/7/2

014

10

:36

5/7

/20

14

13

:03

5/8

/20

14

12

:54

5/9

/20

14

12

:20

5/9

/20

14

12

:49

5/9

/20

14

13

:12

5/1

2/2

01

4 1

4:0

45

/13

/201

4 1

0:4

55

/13

/201

4 1

1:0

45

/13

/201

4 1

1:2

65

/13

/201

4 1

3:4

55

/13

/201

4 1

4:3

45

/14

/201

4 1

2:2

55

/15

/201

4 9

:43

5/1

5/2

01

4 1

3:2

35

/15

/201

4 1

3:5

95

/16

/201

4 1

2:5

65

/16

/201

4 1

3:4

65

/19

/201

4 7

:13

5/1

9/2

01

4 8

:19

5/1

9/2

01

4 1

0:2

95

/19

/201

4 1

2:1

75

/21

/201

4 1

0:1

95

/21

/201

4 1

0:4

45

/21

/201

4 1

1:2

55

/21

/201

4 1

2:2

15

/22

/201

4 7

:14

5/2

2/2

01

4 1

3:1

55

/22

/201

4 1

3:3

95

/23

/201

4 1

3:0

45

/23

/201

4 1

3:4

05

/27

/201

4 1

0:1

65

/28

/201

4 1

3:2

75

/28

/201

4 1

5:4

35

/29

/201

4 7

:39

5/2

9/2

01

4 8

:10

5/2

9/2

01

4 8

:52

5/3

0/2

01

4 1

1:5

15

/30

/201

4 1

2:1

35

/30

/201

4 1

3:1

6

OP10 Gas Head Pressure

Clean tooling


Core Tending• Majority of core tending completed

by robots (defin, glue, assemble and

vision inspection)

• Manual tending in low labor cost

countries and for fragile cores

• Psand uses assembly belt conveyor

with robotic vision alignment


Typical Core Tending LayoutManual

inspectionCore Machine

Unload

Assembly

Conveyor

Defin, glue and

Vision Inspect

“Laser”

Etch

Buffer

Robot


Sand Reclaim

• Rotary drum lump reduction

• Thermal fluidized bed

• Primary cooler w/water tube bundle

• Scalping screen with ball deck

• Fines removal

• Final storage silo

• Secondary Heater/Cooler


Entire Project Designed using

a 3D model• NavisWorks from Autodesk

• 3D AutoCad models from vendors inserted

into plant 3D model

• Can “fly” around plant to look at equipment

from any angle

• Reduces interferences before equipment

build

• Large cost savings by reducing changes

during installation


3D Model Example

Duct interferes with sprinklers

Cable tray in front

of access panel


Example 3D Model screen print

Block Sand

Reclaim

System without

existing plant

included


3D model issues

• Green field sites more accurate.

• Brown field sites must be scanned and

then a model is created from the

scanned data. Not always accurate.

• Just another tool to use, but still

requires some field measurements.

“All Models are Wrong, Some are Useful”

Chuck Morello


Data Collection System• Every machine has a list of variables that

are collected in a memory map for

subsequent charting and analysis.

• Automated query retrieval system plots

data in chart and can export to an Excel

spreadsheet

• Alarms can be set for text and email alerts

• Work orders automatically generated for

preventative maintenance, etc.


Psand Traceability

• Unique serial number “laser” etched into

side core.

• Transferred to casting during casting

process.

• Allows for traceability to process variables

and tracking for spills.

• Serial # linked to 2D matrix etched into

casting in Pre-Machining and eventually is

linked to VIN # in vehicle.

• X-ray example


Traceability

• OCR serial # 2D Matrix on casting

Human readable PUN


Conclusion• GM was thinking about exiting the

foundry business.

• Market conditions changed that

thinking.

• GM has invested significant money

into 5 different foundries around the

world to produce strategic castings.


For additional information, please

contact:

• D.J. Couture

• General Motors

• 1629 N. Washington Ave.

• Saginaw, MI 48605

• 248-978-5433

• [email protected]

gm foundry revitalization - amazon web services · afs sand casting conference october 20-22, 2014...

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