Foundry 4.0 at Kuhn Special Steel
Specialist journals, studies and even international trade events dedicated to the networking and digitalisation of production systems are all haunted by the presence of the same omnipresent buzz term: “Industry 4.0”. Continue reading
The use of networked IT and communications systems in all manner of industrial processes is indeed especially advanced when it comes to large-scale production in the automotive and high-tech sectors. Data, services and resources are controlled, monitored and flexibly adapted to prevailing conditions – all in real time. This entails enormous savings in terms of energy and resources, while at the same time increasing the responsiveness and flexibility of complex process chains.
However, relevant surveys and careful study are still required if we are to deliver specific solutions and technologies capable of realising the potential of what we now refer to as “Industry 4.0”, and make it suitable for specialist, medium-sized enterprises and their shorter production runs; a challenge that Kuhn Special Steel is ready to tackle.
The most recent technological advances at Kuhn Special Steel have largely involved the optimising of processes and products, along with the central control and analysis of production data. If we are to be able to offer our customers the best-possible product at all times, we need not just to consider sustainability, efficiency and technology as concepts; but actually to live and breathe them, while developing them further.
Kuhn Special Steel does this via, for example:
• The consistent deployment of ERP-supported planning and control tools in the design of its material flows, with a view to increasing efficiency and the reliability of production planning. This means that throughput times and on-time delivery are both measurably improved.
• Further development of automation in the casting process and the integration of industrial robots do not just relieve pressure on the workforce; they also reduce processing times and increase the quality of components. Even small, complex batches of items or individual components can then be cost-optimised and manufactured with consistently high quality.
• The deployment of the latest waste-heat recovery and dust extraction systems reduces both energy consumption and harmful emissions. The recycling of swarf and scrap likewise helps to keep down the consumption of production materials.
• Energy management and the central monitoring and tracking of consumption throughout the company increase transparency and reduce the use of electricity and gas; an area of great potential when it comes to running a foundry operation.
Despite all this networking, automation and permanent striving for improvement, Kuhn Special Steel’s team of employees continues to be its prize asset. Values and traditions do not compete with automation and transparency; they are actually what makes possible the proper deployment and realised potential of Foundry 4.0. Production based on sustainable, future-looking development is set to create in the coming years, at our production site in the German town of Radevormwald, ever-closer productive cooperation between man and machine, as Industry 4.0 for the medium-sized enterprise becomes a reality.
Photo: lessingtiede