Digitalise a foundry

Commercial Foundry Turnov is a family-run foundry in the Czech Republic, specialising in the production of castings made from grey, ductile, and special cast iron, as well as aluminum using gravity casting technology. They offer comprehensive services, including casting, finishing, heat treatment, and surface finishing. Established with a legacy passed down through generations, the company focuses on modernising production processes and energy efficiency. Their operations include both small-batch and mid-sized production, with a strong emphasis on customer satisfaction and high-quality standards.

Komerční slévárna Turnov a.s. faced a pivotal challenge: the need to increase productivity and optimise its production processes to stay competitive in a fast-evolving industry. Specifically, Commercial Foundry Turnov needed help in selecting a suitable production information system and wanted to test the new system in real operation first, without having to invest fully in it immediately. 

This is where the EDIH Northeast Bohemia service's "Test Before Invest" program provided the perfect solution for this challenge.

Commercial Foundry Turnov, which produces castings in aluminium and cast iron, was struggling with the complexities of a production system that heavily relied on the interconnectedness of its various departments. With each department led by different masters, coordinating workflows and ensuring smooth communication between them presented a significant challenge.

To address these challenges, the first step involved a comprehensive analysis of the foundry's production processes, identifying specific needs and pain points across departments. Based on this analysis, a tailored proposal for potential improvements was drawn up, with a focus on leveraging digitalisation to streamline operations and enhance interdepartmental collaboration.

The goal of the digitalisation plan was to facilitate efficient data collection throughout the production cycle, providing the management with real-time insights into every phase of manufacturing. This data would allow them to pinpoint areas where productivity gains could be achieved with minimal investment. By targeting the most critical areas, Commercial Foundry Turnov could implement improvements that would yield the greatest impact, optimising production processes and reducing unnecessary costs.

By implementing a new Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Commercial Foundry Turnov achieved significant improvements in operational efficiency during a three-month trial period. The MES enabled the company to optimise the utilisation of both workers and machinery by providing real-time insights into production performance. This allowed the management team to make data-driven decisions on resource allocation, better balancing workloads and enhancing workflow coordination. The introduction of the system also improved connectivity between different departments, fostering greater collaboration and communication across the production floor.

As a direct result of these changes, over the course of the three-month trial, downtime was reduced and productivity increased by 6-10%, demonstrating the immediate impact of the MES on streamlining operations and improving output.

Moreover, the newly implemented MES provided the management with a transparent and accurate representation of time, resource, and machine utilisation. This comprehensive visibility into the production process became a critical asset, equipping decision-makers with the tools to continuously monitor performance and identify areas for ongoing improvement. The detailed data provided a solid foundation for the development of corrective measures and future optimisations, ensuring that the gains achieved during the trial period could be sustained and further enhanced over time.

Do´s:

• Fast cooperation and a proactive approach were required by the customer, which the EDIH NEB team successfully provided.

• Collaboration took place with a professional external supplier specialising in MES systems for industry, and the cooperation proved to be highly effective with both the client and the external supplier.

• For the "Test Before Invest" service, only the most problematic parts of the production process were selected, focusing on their connection with the key departments of Commercial Foundry Turnov, including Production Control, the CEO and Finance Department, and the Technology Department.

Don´ts:

• During the "Test Before Invest" service, it is advisable not to install too many applications at once. It is more effective to concentrate on key problematic areas and implement only a few applications at a time. Since the MES system was entirely new for the client, a slower approach would have been more suitable to avoid overwhelming them with too many new applications simultaneously.