Jøtul Foundry Case Story - DISA 270 A
DISA 270-A boosts capacity to over 400 moulds an hour while cutting costs at Jøtul in Norway
Jøtul, a world leading supplier of cast iron stoves, hearths and fireplaces, wished to increase capacity and cut costs in order to reinforce its competitive position in world markets.
Founded in 1853, the Jøtul foundry is a world-leading manufacturer of cast iron stoves, hearths and fireplaces. The foundry employs 55 people in three shifts and has an annual output of 12,000 tonnes of uncored, grey iron castings ranging from 0.5 to 25 kg.
Ambitious goals
“Our DISAMATIC 2070 MK1 had served us well for 25 years from 1981 until 2005, turning out a total of 19.5 million castings. Our sales were growing at 5% a year, however, and we needed to increase our production capacity to keep up,” Jostein Lunde, Production and Technical Manager explains.
Jøtul was looking for a solution with room for 400 moulds an hour, corresponding to a capacity increase of 50%. In addition they required 90% availability, a significant reduction in cost per casting, and a payback period of no more than three years in order to gain additional competitive edge in world markets.
Complete foundry project
“For us, effective integration throughout the production process is of paramount importance. And that is best achieved by opting for a complete solution for the foundry from a single supplier,” Mr Jostein Lunde continues.
After a thorough analysis of requirements and solution options together with DISA, Jøtul opted for a thorough upgrade of the entire foundry. “We decided to base the new solution on the DISA 270-A moulding machine. DISA assumed responsibility for the entire project so that we would only have to deal with one partner who was responsible for everything, including sub-suppliers,” Jostein Lunde continues.
Installation during summer shut-down
The first step of replacing the existing shake-out and three shotblast machines as well as installing a new casting cooler and a new, complete control system was achieved in just five weeks.
Installation of the new DISA 270-A took place during the summer shut-down period in July and August of 2005. At the same time, an automatic pattern changer ensuring pattern change in just 60 seconds, and a complete new sand mixer including a Sand Multi Controller were installed. The entire project took just four weeks.
Meeting targets
The design focus of the DISA 270-A moulding machine is on casting accuracy, production capacity with speeds of 400 moulds an hour, and user-friendly service and maintenance.
“In addition to speed and availability the DISA 270-A moulding machine specified a mismatch of 0.20 mm or less,” Jostein Lunde explains. “This meant that we have been able to achieve a steady 410 moulds-an-hour in the production of castings with a wall thickness between 3 and 6mm with a perfect surface quality. The accuracy of the DISA 270-A also means a reduction of grinding costs by more than 20% and a scrap percentage of 2% or less.”
In addition, Jostein Lunde stresses the importance of the new control system as well as the new hydraulics and fewer moving parts that enable user-friendly operation and maintenance to save costs and optimize availability.
Training and service
Jøtul has taken advantage of a DISA TOPS Service Agreement with regular process status reports by DISA technicians, constant availability of spare parts and, if necessary, rapid response if a problem arises that cannot be rectified by the foundry’s own experts.
“Everything is working entirely according to plan, and we are now looking forward to another 25 years of high-quality, trouble-free production,” Mr Jostein Lunde concludes.