Teksid S.p.A. will install an automated ladle-tracking technology for monitoring production activity and locations of compacted-graphite and gray iron ladles at its foundry in Monclova, Mexico. The Ladle Tracker technology, developed by SinterCast, will be commissioned during autumn 2022.
The process involves a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag affixed to each ladle and RFID reader antennae installed at critical locations throughout the foundry, such as furnace tapping, treatment stations and pouring. The system documents the time of the ladle at every position; ensures that every ladle reports to every step in the process; and certifies that each step is completed within the allocated time.
This will be the seventh installation of the SinterCast Ladle Tracker and the first for the Teksid group.
“Our Ladle Tracker technology enables the foundry to measure and control every step of the process on the liquid metal side of the foundry, bringing Industry 4.0 traceability to the foundry managers and reassurance to the foundry customers,” explained Dr. Steve Dawson, President & CEO of SinterCast.
Teksid is a Stellantis subsidiary operating iron foundries in Mexico, China, and Poland. The Monclova plant produces 120,000 metric tons/year of gray iron and CGI castings, supplied to Fiat Chrysler and other automotive manufacturers.
The Monclova foundry has been a licensee of the SinterCast CGI production process since 2002.
As reported by SinterCast, its engineers worked with Teksid foundry technicians to customize Ladle Tracker for the layout, process flow, and production demands at Monclova. The system will have six tracking locations – furnace tapping, two wire-feeding treatment stations, two temperature control stations and automated ladle pouring.
It will monitor and control production of CGI and gray iron to ensure that every ladle passes each step successfully, and to provide “Industry 4.0 traceability” of the liquid metal.
A seventh tracking location in the ladle relining area will quantitatively measure each ladle lining in terms of days, hot metal cycles and the accumulated time of exposure to liquid iron, so as to optimize scheduling and cost-effectiveness of ladle maintenance and re-lining.
“This integration will provide new insights and new opportunities for us to further optimize our processes” stated Teksid Monclova CEO Armando Garza. “The Ladle Tracker technology aligns with our longstanding ethos that more measurements mean more control, more efficiency, and more profitability.”