Eröffnet: SMART FOUNDRY
Moulding a sustainable future
Kurtz Ersa opens new iron foundry – official start for Industry 4.0 SMART FOUNDRY in Hasloch
With a ceremony held in the production hall, Kurtz Ersa opened its new SMART FOUNDRY in Hasloch on 6 March – just one year and one month after turning the first sod. 150 invited guests, customers, project partners, representatives of important associations, and staff were in attendance as the red ribbon was cut.
With the SMART FOUNDRY, Kurtz Ersa took a strategic decision intended to secure the long-term continuity of the iron foundry and the over 100 jobs. This resulted in investments amounting to 12 mio. euro for what is probably the world’s most modern hand mould foundry – a further milestone in the over 235-year history of the company which has included iron casting among its core competences since 1852. Today, the broadly-based product range encompasses, among other things, planetary carriers, machine beds and pump housings for well-known customers from such sectors as mechanical engineering, drive engineering, power engineering, vehicle construction, vacuum engineering and wind energy. A study commissioned in advance attests to the necessary potential for the Kurtz product range to utilise the full capacity of the iron foundry with the production of high-quality cast iron parts for German industry in the future as well.
Impressions from the SMART FOUNDRY
Kurtz Ersa SMART FOUNDRY: The most modern foundry for the most successful companies
Doubled productivity, increased efficiency
From this, the parties involved in the project developed a creative solution which illustrates the trend to “Industry 4.0” and leads to a doubling of productivity with increased efficiency. The concept: Exploiting as many existing buildings as possible, SMART FOUNDRY focuses on a completely new material flow and continuous clocked hand moulding in keeping with the Toyota production principle.
An SAP-controlled production concept, parcelled production areas and an unmanned, universally mobile transport system result in a flexible process chain in which manual production phases and an automated logistics system can be ideally combined. 1,700 m2 of renovations from the ground up, and 2,580 m2 of newly-constructed buildings were necessary. The construction of the hall alone required extensive foundation work with over 2,000 meters of bored pile rammed in far below the water table. “The construction schedule foresaw 1 September for the commencement of production – with a planned two-and-a-half week interrupt of operations. Apparently impossible, but we succeeded – my warmest thanks to all those involved!” says Kurtz Ersa-Chef Rainer Kurtz looking back on a project which, thanks to meticulous planning, was crowned by success.
At a ceremony beginning at 1 pm on 6 March, Graziano Sammati, Managing Director of Kurtz Eisenguss GmbH & Co. KG, greeted numerous representatives from the spheres of politics and business, customers, business partners, project partners, advisory bodies, shareholders and, of course, staff. He emphasised that a task of these extraordinary dimensions could only be accomplished with a powerful project team: “My thanks go to all the external partners – and to our staff who, despite the reconstruction phase and under extremely difficult conditions, displayed such enormous dedication, producing many tonnes of finished castings for our customers!“
The world’s most modern hand mould foundry
Many of the participants had already taken the opportunity in the morning to familiarise themselves with the innovative concept of the SMART FOUNDRY by attending special lectures – even distinguished experts were impressed by the complexity of the new Kurtz iron foundry which, ultimately, makes all the work processes run simply and smoothly. The topics in the highly-frequented HAMMERMUSEUM were “Industry 4.0: SAP-controlled processes in foundries in conjunction with the modular, individual transport system”, “New standards in the regeneration of cold resin bonded sand” and “State of the art in suction extraction and heat recovery in foundries.” The last lecture on the programme “Burr-free cast iron – how know-how pays off from day one,” was declared a matter for the boardroom by Kurtz Eisenguss Managing Director, Graziano Sammati, who delivered the lecture himself.
Shortly before the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony, Rainer Kurtz told the assembled guests: “With the SMART FOUNDRY, I am pleased and proud to be able to present you with an Industry 4.0 foundry of 320 meters length and with 23,000 square meters of production area.
We have spared no effort to set standards in terms of the SAP-controlled production concept, including continuous clocking in accordance with the Toyota principle, workplace quality, environmental protection and energy recovery. For we are firmly rooted in this location; this is where it all began – and this is where we want to stay. With our new iron foundry, we are completely hardwired to growth!” Following the official ceremony, tours were conducted through the new Kurtz iron foundry where visitor could view the Industry 4.0 foundry from up close. Since then, production is being rapidly powered-up. Good luck, SMART FOUNDRY!
Key Data SMART FOUNDRY
| 3,000 x 5,000 mm | ||
| 150 kg to 8,000 kg | ||
| EN-GJL-150 to -300 | ||
| EN-GJS-400 to -800 | |||
| Solid solution strenghtened GJS (high Si alloy) | |||
| DIN EN 1564 compliant ADI materials | |||
| 20,000 tonnes per year |