We've seen the use of Aluminium usage soar in recent years due to lightweighting in automotive and the rise of e-mobility, advances in 5G technology and growing societal demands for improved recyclability and widespread rejection of plastics.
Understanding how equipment, innovative services and digital solutions can be used to improve, and connectedly advance, operations is the foundation of your business.
Get it right and the opportunity to improve productivity and gain competitive advantage, even during times of uncertainty, is there for the taking. This comprehensive guide is about ‘getting it right’.
It is designed to help aluminium die casting foundries flourish by looking at how different technologies and solutions can be used individually and together to optimise production at every stage to eliminate waste, improve quality and maximize efficiency through seamless integration.
Melting aluminium is extremely energy intensive. The melt-shop alone can account for as much as 77% of the overall energy consumption in a die casting foundry.
It is also a process prone to metal loss. Depending on the aluminium alloy in question, a metal loss of just 1% of an annual melting output of 5,000 metric tons leads to a financial loss of approximately $85,000 USD.
Adopting more energy efficient technologies, automated systems which make production more agile and less reliant on manual intervention, and solutions specially designed to maximize metal yield, therefore offers a significant opportunity to save huge amounts of energy and money.
With a lowest measured energy consumption rate of just 489 kWh/t and a near 100% metal yield (99.75) for improved quality, StrikoMelter is the most efficient melting furnace on the market.
StrikoWestofen’s Part Load Efficiency Control boosts melting process efficiency – especially during low utilization – by optimizing melting and holding over longer periods, reducing energy consumption by up to 20%.
Together these solutions help customers save money, time and make more of their resources.
Monitizer | REFILL MONITOR, developed specifically for StrikoWestofen equipment, uses real-time sensor data to ensure aluminium dosing furnaces are always ready with the correct alloy, at the right quantity and time. No unnecessary filling runs. No unexpected stoppages.
Dosing and bale-out systems stay at peak performance, with metal supply productivity increasing by up to 15%. On average, this delivers a 0.5% to 1% overall improvement in plant productivity by minimizing downtime and optimizing refill cycles.
The next task is to mitigate risks that may occur during the dosing process itself. There are many factors which can hamper this important stage. For example, delivering ‘high quality aluminium’ can be put at risk by oxides entering the melt during the dosing process – a common issue with pumpbased systems. This can lead to metal loss and undesirable scrap rates. As can temperature fluctuations. Even slight variations can impact melt flow characteristics, dosing precision and mould filling. Selecting a ladle-free (crucible-free) pressure-controlled riser tube-based dosing furnace which takes liquid metal from below the bath surface helps avoid the risk of metal contamination and the associated quality implications, while also saving energy.
Surface preparation and cleaning operations are not always front of mind when looking for areas for improvement in aluminium die casting operations. But why let your perfect process down on the final stretch? Especially when there are more zero waste, zero defect benefits to be achieved.
Aluminium production settings demand lighter, more flexible and more compact shot blast equipment. Solutions adopted should be specifically designed to efficiently clean large, structural aluminium castings that may have complex internal surfaces. Lightweight aluminium parts can also have thin wall thicknesses making them susceptible to deformation, so whether you use an air or wheel blast process, precise control is essential to avoid damage.
Wheelabrator's blast machines for aluminium integrate into tight cell layouts to provide compact, seamless material and workpiece handling, with flexible construction that allows equipment to be moved and adapted quickly to suit rapidly changing production requirements.
Space is maximized, downtime is minimized, and - thanks to innovative engineering tailored for precision blasting, descaling/deburring, deflashing and cleaning of aluminium parts – finished part quality is optimised.
Aluminium foundries are on the brink of transformation. With IIoT and Industry 4.0, digital technologies are already reshaping operations, turning data into a competitive advantage by reducing waste, increasing uptime, and enabling smarter decision-making across the board.
Monitizer makes it simple. No matter your starting point, our IIoT platform connects people, machines and data. You gain full visibility and control from day one. In fact, consultants McKinsey reports double-digit productivity gains from a digital-first approach. With Monitizer, that potential is within reach.
Modern foundry equipment increasingly comes IIoT-ready - from furnaces and die casting machines, to surface finishing lines - they’re all leaving the factory floor prepared for data integration. For older equipment, Monitizer | NoriGate acts as a powerful retrofit 'gateway', making it easy to connect any machine or sensor to the digital world.
With NoriGate, aluminium foundries can:
This is the foundation of a smarter production system, one that continuously evolves and improves with you.
Whether you’re running a single anluminium foundry or managing multiple facilities, Monitizer gives you the tools to monitor, analyze, and act. The platform allows you to view your production data live and historical, enabling you to track KPIs, compare cells and sites, and make real-time, data-backed decisions.
What this means for you:
No guesswork. No delays. Just the right data, delivered to the right people, at the right time.
Every foundry already has the raw material for improvement: data. With Monitizer, you can finally harness it to reduce waste, increase throughput, and drive long-term sustainability.
Whether you’re starting small or scaling fast, it can help you: