GM Foundry Revitalization

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Felix Walker
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1 GM Foundry Revitalization D.J. Couture General Motors Company Sr. Mfg. Project Engineer Saginaw Metal Casting Operations

2 GM Foundries Before and during bankruptcy, GM considered exiting the foundry business. But looking at the business conditions, etc., GM Management decided that the foundry business is a strategic sector to maintain control of design and partial supply of specific castings. It was decided to maintain internal production of blocks, heads, cranks and transmission cases.

3 GM Foundries Flint, MI Pontiac, MI Holden, Australia Danville, Il Massena, NY Tonawanda, NY St. Catharine's, Canada Saginaw Malleable Iron Saginaw Nodular Iron Saginaw Grey Iron (SMCO) Defiance, OH Bedford, IN Toluca, MX Tashkent, UZ (Joint Venture) 9 CLOSED 5 OPERATING

4 Previous equipment and processes Previous autonomy for plants resulted in many different processes and types of equipment across the division. Lost Foam examples: Rotary drum vs fluid bed reclaim Forced vs Natural aging of foams Massena L850 transfer to Saginaw

5 Goal: Common equipment and processes Central Mfg. Engineering purchases common equipment for the specific process per the Bill of Equipment. Launch teams at each plant install and debug the equipment. Results in common equipment and processes at each plant.

6 Death Star vs Rebel bases Death Star Pontiac Headquarters Rebel Bases Tashkent Defiance Bedford Toluca Saginaw

7 Commonality Pros Share the spare Training Common solutions to problems Cons Restricts continuous improvement Big problems are BIG problems Rebel base resistance

8 GM Bill of Process Alum. Blocks: Precision Sand Alum. Heads: Semi-Permanent Mold Crankshafts: Green Sand Transmission Cases: Die Cast

9 SPM Bill of Equipment (BOE) Melting: Stack Melter (w/baghouse) Resin: Epoxy Acrylic Sand: 50* AFS round silica Sand system: rotary blade centralized mixer with sand delivery car Core machine: dual horizontally parted machine with cope eject Core tending: manual for jackets, robotic for other cores Reclaim: thermal fluidized bed 6 tph

10 SPM BOE Casting: 6 station carousel or linear cast lines Finishing: Deflash mill, Vibratory decore, Degate saw, Defin mill and Visual inspection Heat treat: Rotary T6 or T7 Pre-machining: CNC machines for Ops (Dremel on steroids), leak & flow testing

11 SPM Mold and Cores

12 Psand BOE Melting: Stack Melter (w/baghouse) Resin: Phenolic Urethane Sand: 60 AFS round silica Sand system: rotary blade individual mixers at each machine Core machine: dual horizontally parted machine with cope eject Core tending: fully robotic for all cores, liners, filters and screens Reclaim: thermal fluidized bed, 18 tph

13 Psand BOE Casting: Induction heated liners, mechanical metal pump, BFR robot Finishing: Deflash mill, Vibratory decore, Degate saw, Defin, shot blast, water blast, vision system inspection and visual inspection Heat treat: rotary T6 or T7 Pre-machining: Ops 10-30

14 PSand Block Core Package Core package consists of cores along with screens and filters Metal Chill

15 Psand BFR Robot 1350 kg capacity (2976 lb) End effector to hold core package

16 Foundry Revitalization Tashkent, Uzbekistan Defiance, Ohio Bedford, Indiana Toluca, Mexico Saginaw, Michigan

17 GMPT Global Casting - N&M Programs HFV6 Block SMCO HFV6 Head SMCO Gen V V6/V8 Head Bedford 6 SPD FWD/RWD Bedford GF6 Gen 2 Bedford GF6 Gen 3 & 8 Speed RWD Bedford SGE DC Block Bedford SGE SPM Head Toluca Gen V V8 P.S. Block Toluca MGE G.S. Block & Crank Defiance Fam 0 G.S. Block & Crank Defiance LGE Block Defiance Gen V V6/V8 Block Defiance B-DOHC Head Tashkent GS DC PS SPM

18 Tashkent, Uzbekistan BDOCH 4 Cylinder Head 2 Stack Melters 2 SPM Carousels 3 Core Machines 4 TPH Thermal Sand Reclaim 2 Finish lines Heat treatment Pre-machining

19 Tashkent, Uzbekistan

20 Defiance, OH Gen V and LGE blocks Reverb and Stack Melters 4 Precision sand cast lines 24 Core machines No sand reclaim (lake sand) Finish lines Heat treat Pre-machining

21 Bedford, Indiana Gen V 4 cylinder head 3 Stack Melters 3 SPM Carousels 3 Core machines 6 TPH thermal sand reclaim 2 Finish lines Heat treatment Pre-machining

22 Toluca, Mexico SGE Head & Gen V Block 3 stack Melters 3 Linear SPM Cast Lines 1 Precision Sand Cast Line 9 core machines 3 finish lines Heat treat Pre-machining

23 Saginaw, Michigan HFV6 Head & Block 3 Linear SPM Cast Lines 1 Precision Sand Cast Line 9 core machines 3 finish lines (1 Psand, 2 SPM) Outside heat treat Pre-machining

24 Highlights of some of the Core Room Equipment

25 Raw Material Equipment SPM: Central SO 2 Room Psand: Individual Amine Generators Transverse bars vs. tensile dogbones Sand controlled by weigh hopper Resin controlled by flow meter based on actual sand weight per batch Resin recirculation and some temperature control. Core mixers on rails for maintenance

26 Sand Mixers on Rails Mixer on rails to pull out for maintenance

27 Core Machines Dual machines with separate recipes Horizontally parted Cope eject Family box tooling 100, 50/50, 60/40, 70/30 split sand magazines Monitor gas manifold temp and pressure

28 5/1/2014 8:51 5/1/ :33 5/1/ :02 5/1/ :19 5/1/ :47 5/2/ :16 5/2/ :42 5/5/2014 9:44 5/5/ :01 5/5/ :27 5/6/2014 7:20 5/6/2014 9:48 5/7/ :36 5/7/ :03 5/8/ :54 5/9/ :20 5/9/ :49 5/9/ :12 5/12/ :04 5/13/ :45 5/13/ :04 5/13/ :26 5/13/ :45 5/13/ :34 5/14/ :25 5/15/2014 9:43 5/15/ :23 5/15/ :59 5/16/ :56 5/16/ :46 5/19/2014 7:13 5/19/2014 8:19 5/19/ :29 5/19/ :17 5/21/ :19 5/21/ :44 5/21/ :25 5/21/ :21 5/22/2014 7:14 5/22/ :15 5/22/ :39 5/23/ :04 5/23/ :40 5/27/ :16 5/28/ :27 5/28/ :43 5/29/2014 7:39 5/29/2014 8:10 5/29/2014 8:52 5/30/ :51 5/30/ :13 5/30/ :16 Gassing Manifold Pressure May be useful for establishing tool cleaning frequencies OP10 Gas Head Pressure Clean tooling

29 Core Tending Majority of core tending completed by robots (defin, glue, assemble and vision inspection) Manual tending in low labor cost countries and for fragile cores Psand uses assembly belt conveyor with robotic vision alignment

30 Typical Core Tending Layout Manual inspection Core Machine Unload Defin, glue and Vision Inspect Assembly Conveyor Buffer Robot Laser Etch

31 Sand Reclaim Rotary drum lump reduction Thermal fluidized bed Primary cooler w/water tube bundle Scalping screen with ball deck Fines removal Final storage silo Secondary Heater/Cooler

32 Entire Project Designed using a 3D model NavisWorks from Autodesk 3D AutoCad models from vendors inserted into plant 3D model Can fly around plant to look at equipment from any angle Reduces interferences before equipment build Large cost savings by reducing changes during installation

33 3D Model Example Duct interferes with sprinklers Cable tray in front of access panel

34 Example 3D Model screen print Block Sand Reclaim System without existing plant included

35 3D model issues Green field sites more accurate. Brown field sites must be scanned and then a model is created from the scanned data. Not always accurate. Just another tool to use, but still requires some field measurements. All Models are Wrong, Some are Useful Chuck Morello

36 Data Collection System Every machine has a list of variables that are collected in a memory map for subsequent charting and analysis. Automated query retrieval system plots data in chart and can export to an Excel spreadsheet Alarms can be set for text and alerts Work orders automatically generated for preventative maintenance, etc.

37 Psand Traceability Unique serial number laser etched into side core. Transferred to casting during casting process. Allows for traceability to process variables and tracking for spills. Serial # linked to 2D matrix etched into casting in Pre-Machining and eventually is linked to VIN # in vehicle. X-ray example

38 Traceability OCR serial # 2D Matrix on casting Human readable PUN

39 Conclusion GM was thinking about exiting the foundry business. Market conditions changed that thinking. GM has invested significant money into 5 different foundries around the world to produce strategic castings.

40 For additional information, please contact: D.J. Couture General Motors 1629 N. Washington Ave. Saginaw, MI

Title Error-proofing and Traceability

Title Error-proofing and Traceability A guide to reducing quality escapes, recall costs and production inefficiency via unique part identification www.youtube.com/watch?v=cefuobqft1c link to YouTube We