HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-01-02, Page 16Page 4—The Wingham Advance -Times, Thurs., January 2, 11925
New
electric f
electric urnaces,a increase
Wingham's Western Foundry will house the storage bins for
Company Limited is now in the raw material, a new control
final stages of a - $1.5 million laboratory, and auxilnary mat -
dollar expansion program which erial handling equipment
was started in January of this An electrical service to handle
'The project has included the increased power demand has
y'ti also been added. The company's
the installation of two new elec- new sub -station has sufficient
tric vertical channel induction
furnaces, 'expanded core room capacity to handle the 5,000 to
facilities, as well as additional 6,000 kilowatt daily energy
office, warehouse and storage demand (approximately equal to
space. the Town of Wingham's total
Company President Dick Le- present demand). A 650 h.p.
Van explained that fully two- diesel generator, capable of pro -
thirds of the money spent in the ducing 400 kilowatts of power,
program went into the two new has been installed to see the plant
furnaces and facilities directly through any power interruption.
related to them. The company Even this back-up power source
has also made provision for the
installation of a third furnace
when required in the future.
The new melting„ and holding
furnaces will be quite an im-
provement over the previous
"cupola" method of melting.
Electricity is now the fuel source
for' melting whereas coke, a by-
product of coal, was the fuel,
source used in the cupola. The
president pointed out that envi-
ronmentally, the electric fur-
. naces are superior, as extensive
expenditures for smoke abate-
ment equipment would be re-
quired to expand the cupola
operation any further.
Double Production
The newly -installed furnaces
will increase production to ap-
proximately 80 tons per day from
a present level of 45 tons. The
,control features available with
the furnaces allow. molten metal
to be held at all times, which pro-
vides flexibility in the pouring
times. Don Kennedy, executive
vice president, pointed out that
with the cupola, once melting had
started the metal had to be
poured continuously and could
only be operated for a period of
eight to nine hours. Melting
would then cease, the - cupola
vould be emptied and repaired, .
and the cycle repeated the next
- day. The new furnaces will melt
at a rate of three tons per hour
each, and they act as "holding"
or storage units as well. Thus
mitten metalwill be available 24
hours' a day.
To house the new furnaces, an
8,500 -square -foot building has
been added. Including the foun-
dation and pits for the new fur-
naces, 1,000 cubic yards of con-
creW and 150 tons of. reinforcing
1 have been used. As well as
e new furnaces, the, ,addition
is capable of producing more
power than the entire operation
used five years ago.
Shell Core
Mr. Kennedy proudly noted
that the foundry now has one of
the most up-to-date shell core
production facilities in North
America for a venture of its size.
About 11,000 square feet haye
been added or rebuilt in this area.
Some of the most modern semi-
automatic and automatic core
production equipment to be found
anywhere has been installed. A
"core" is used where a "hollow"
type casting must be produced.
The management- has also in -
un , cleaning. ami\'.
in-
creased its, shiPP g
and inspection space by 7,00 has
includeduimtfor
square feet, as wellas addingarea well.A nf this"
3,000-sqare feet of office pa e punchgess and a 400 -ton capa-
an fact, the new facilities in the city brake press were added this
project have increased the physi- Year-
cal
ePlans have been made to un-
cal area of the foundry by almost
50 per cent. prove working conditions in the
The addition of the meta lurgi- foundry and equipment orders
cal and chemical laboratory will have been placed. - A heating and
help to meet the company's short ventilating system to move
and long term quality control ob- 300,000
i feet ofair pr
minutecuct a
jectives.
about the capacity of 300 average
Sheet Metal Plant home furnace fans. The systen
Although no new additions have will also include correspondingi,
been made to buildings in the exhaust systems and revamped
sheet metal fabricating plant, and additional dust collection
systems.
The company's head expl ed
that upgrading andk.moderniza-
tion at the foundcj'ls a continuous
chain reaction. Once one part of
the facility is made more effici-
ent, it puts prepsure ongthe next
area of production to increase its
handling and output, so that faci-
lity has to be improved. There -
r
forei while the present moiler.
nization program is almost corn=
plete, the company is already
laying plans for new expansion
when and where �is necessary.
What does this inc .
production and refinement of
facilities meathe o pa'!!
and the community? Mr: teVan
said it will enhance the coAn-
.-
II
j y'a e—petiitiVe. oapabilitles
la the .in- rke'ce1 The inore
sophisticated eontro!a and pro•
duction equiprne #t will. allow for
better and more consristent qua.
lity gray irons which are required
to meet customer$° requirements
ty_..ad tomorrow. The resi-
dent continental that graY'Iron
Please turn to Page 5
THIS
beat c
tion 1
furna
syste
work
are d
grid.
THIS ELECTRO -MAGNET which can carry up to 1,000
pounds of scrap metal at one time, is part of Western Foun-
dry's new-$11million electrical furnace,system.The metal is
r,
dropped into a large' bucket" which then•transfers it to one
of the plant's two tilt nose vertical channel induction fur-
naces where the "charge" is melted. (Staff Photo)
WESTERN FOUNDRY of Wingham has just com-pleted a Targe expansion at a cost of ap-
proximately $11/2 million. Improvements have been made in the moulding area (seen•
here) shipping, f'aboratory facilities and the installation of tiree tilt nose vertical channel
induction furnaces. The -furnaces, only two of which will go into operation immediately,
cost'the company $1 million alone. - - (Staff Photo)
ESTERN FOUNDR
COMPANY LIMITED
IRON CASTINGS * SHEET METAL PARTS
WINGHAM, ONTARIO PHONE: 357-3450
SPECIALIZING IN
IRON CASTINGS FOR A VARIETY OF ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT
MANUFACTURERS IN NORTH AMERICA
* SI-IEET METAL PARTS INCLUDING STEEL SHOWER CABINETS,
SPECIALIZED STEEL CABINETRY'
WESTERN FOUNDRY COMPANY LIMITED has been
associated with Wingh�m---sinci 1901, and today are
supptiers of castings to major- markets in North America
Representing in North Ameraw Fritz Winter. Eisengiesseri O.H.G.
7.,
fk
WESTERN FOUNDRY COMPANY LIMITED SPONSORS THE
WINGHAM IRONMEN JUNIOR "D" HOCKEY TEAM