Franklin Bronze has implemented several improvements in their wax room to provide a safe working environment. Within the last few years, Franklin Bronze added a new chiller station, acquired an additional automated wax press, installed work station dividers and rearranged the workflow in the wax room to provide a safe working environment, additional capacity, and greater casting reliability.
“The wax room is where it all begins so starting in this department as well as all other areas of our shop, it is essential to provide operators with efficient processes and work flow, a safe work environment and reliable machinery”, states Chris Barber, Operations Manager.
New/Upgraded Chiller Station
A new chiller station has been installed at FBPC, designed to provide additional capacity and added functionality to the wax room. The chiller has two purposes, to hold the tooling to a set temperature and to regulate the temperature of the hydraulics within the wax presses.
When the tooling temperature is regulated, that in turn cools the wax pattern based on the type of part and specific machine used for production. This allows optimum efficiency by permitting the part to be removed from the tooling as soon as injection is complete, reflecting ideal part quality.
Automated Wax Press +1
FBPC partnered with Auto Wax Inc. and added an additional automated wax press to expand capabilities and improve productivity. The auto press generates more patterns per hour resulting in increased throughput.
This new high volume press incorporates a robotic mold spray system that is flexible and precise, integrating controls for spray amount and location dependent on part and tool design. The robotic system within the auto press can be pre-programmed and run on demand, the 1st of its kind.
With two auto wax presses in-house, all shifts have the ability to continuously run parts engineered for auto tooling, doubling capacity while utilizing one employee.
For more details on the automated wax press.
Workstation Dividers
With the start of the pandemic in 2020, the installation of workstation dividers was deemed necessary for Franklin Bronze to protect the health and safety of its employees. This became important where it wasn’t possible for wax machine operators to perform their job duties 6 feet apart. These workstation dividers allow operators to continue working safety, a #1 priority for Franklin Bronze.
Wax Room Workflow
Wax Room layout changes were implemented to improve workflow. A significant change included the optimization of wax tooling by first a location change and second an organization system whereby operators can pull tooling to set-up jobs in the most efficient manner.
Franklin Bronze maintains and extensive library of tooling therefore, organization to this area is of utmost importance and continues to be meticulously maintained.
Workflow has also been improved by the relocation of several wax press machines to maximize operator efficiency.
Future Plans
Future opportunities in the wax room include additional automation of wax press operation through the integration of a robotic arm to each press station which would feed an assembly cell and attach waxes to trees automatically.
According to Operations Managers, Chris Barber, “We are continually making improvements and reevaluating our operations to ensure the process starts with a quality part to help ensure product flows through our processes seamlessly and the end result exceeds our customer’s expectations”.
Advanced, Automated Investment Casting Foundry
Franklin Bronze Precision Components continues to expand its automation techniques and adapt further to industry 4.0 through capital improvement projects that allow for future growth and continued efficiencies.
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