Castings PLC is a market-leading UK iron casting and machining group. Its continued strength is largely as a result of investment in the latest technologies and manufacturing processes. Maintaining an ungeared balance sheet provides investment flexibility, enabling the company to maximise commercial opportunities to generate strong returns for the benefit of shareholders, customers and employees alike.
The company recently embarked on further improvements by implementing an investment plan to ensure it was operating more effectively and driving down costs by eliminating inefficient processes and replacing them with modern, long life, shotblast wheels.
An order was placed with Rosler because clarification from existing customers gave them the confidence to do so and the company places a great deal of importance on finding a supplier which offered technical advantages and a reliable, quick service. In addition, the machine had to be fitted with the Rosler Rutten ‘C’ blast wheels within a time constraint that would give most suppliers a problem.
This plan consisted of installing Rosler Rutten ‘C’ blast wheels to the existing batch barrel blast facilities ensuring both improved efficiency by shorter blast times and higher uptimes by providing wear parts of superior material thereby providing a long life, low maintenance shot blasting process, whilst the component parts are produced in an automated continuous greensand casting line.
Speaking about the choice Jason Staphnill, engineering director at Castings Plc said: “We are delighted with the result and our decision. This investment contributes and enables us to continue delivering long-term sustainable revenues through investment in market leading technologies”.
Previous investments have been made in 3D printing facilities, which allows the conversion of a 3D model into a printed pattern and from that, an iron casting in 48 hours. This shortens the development time, allowing variants of prototypes to be manufactured and tested faster than ever before.
Staphnill said: “We are so pleased with the performance we are getting from our retrofitted wheels we are preparing the budget to enable the purchase of further wheels. We now achieve excellent blast cleaning results on our cast parts in cycle times typically 25 per cent shorter.”
Castings PLC group is made up of three autonomous manufacturing sites - head office is at Brownhills, West Midlands, WM Lee is based in Dronfield, South Yorkshire and CNC Speedwell is opposite the Brownhills foundry. www.castingsplc.uk
For more information on Rösler technically advantaged long life blast wheels contact Steve Walmsley and quote ‘Retrofit’. Tel: +44 (0) 151 482 0444, web: www.rosler.com