Alucast

The company is now one of the major sand, gravity, and pressure casting foundries in the Midlands area.

Client Summary

Alucast, the sand, gravity and pressure casting manufacturer, was originally formed in 1967, as a sand- casting business making aluminium castings with 5 employees. Acquisition of another casting business in 1973, which was also operating in the sand-casting sector significantly grew the business.

Company History

The company is now one of the major sand, gravity, and pressure casting foundries in the Midlands area. A brief history of the operation is provided below:

In the ‘90s, it made some of the largest gravity die-castings in Europe (as quoted by Foundry Trade Journal).
Mike Clayton, the original founder of the business retired, and Phil Roberts was then in day-to-day control. He later opened a high-pressure die-casting business, but then transferred it to the Wednesbury site. This facility gave the business all three majoraluminium casting processes, something that is retained today as a unique selling point. He also acquired another gravity business sited near the old Patent Shaft Steel Works, in Wednesbury.
A restructure of all manufacturing processes into one plant was completed in 2001, at Western Way, Wednesbury, the current Alucast site.
Phil Roberts retired in 2003 having built up the company to £4m turnover.
Tony Sartorius (Chairman) and John Swift (CEO) took over the business in October 2003, with the strategy of expansion and developing the role of the business as a capable source for high quality castings.
Acquired a machining business in 2008 (Dixi in Coventry).
The company survived the 2008-2009 downturn, which halved its turnover, but this was restored to around £6.0m quickly.
2010 Introduction of low energy melting furnaces to save energy.
The company won the Manufacturer of the Year award in 2012.
The company purchased its buildings and premises in March 2013.
A new process of Low-Pressure manufacture was added at the plant in June 2013, bringing all four main casting processes on one site.
Won Business Masters Apprentice Scheme of the year in 2014.
Alucast attained the TS 16949, now AITF 16949 in 2015, and acquired Magmasoft the solidification modelling software in the same year.
In 2018 the company started investing in 5 axis CNC technology in the Machine Shop to create further employment and expand sales.
2019 saw the introduction of 4 off Quaser 630 5 Axis CNC machines and the new Machine Shop was opened by Lords Carrington and Whitby.
In 2022 more twin pallet CNC machines were purchased bring the total to 25 CNCs.
2023 a large HDTD Low Pressure machine was installed.
June 2023, 800 tonne HPDC machine was installed.

Participating In The Programme

Energy is a big cost for the company making up over 10% of total business costs. They have seen increases in energy cost of 100% in gas and of 200% in electricity. They wanted to understand their consumption better at machine level and help to minimise costs. As with all other sectors pressure is now starting to be applied to get the business to decarbonise and provide scope 1, 2 & 3 information. The company wanted to use this programme to learn more about this area and to better understand the task ahead.

How Rising Energy Costs Were Impacting Their Business

Rising costs for the business and the sector in general has led to difficult trading conditions in the industry at the moment and meant that the business was limited in its available capital for upgrading equipment and improving energy efficiency.

Insights from the Energy Assessment

During the review it was noted that the melting process is inefficient due to the lack of insulation on the lids. There were audible air leaks around the site causing a high utilization factor on the compressors. The sand extraction system had recently undergone repairs due to numerous holes in the pipework. Some of the lighting has yet to be changed to LED. The site would benefit from an aM&T system to facilitate closer management of the production processes and process optimization.

Impact of Implementing the Recommendations

Recommendation	Estimated Annual energy saving (kWh/yr)	Estimated Annual saving (£exc.VAT/ yr)	Estimated cost to implement (£ excl.VAT)	Payback period	Estimated Annual carbon saving (tCO2e/yr)
Reduce Compressor Pressure in the Sand Plant	49,621	£11,184	£0	0	11.16
System Switch Off	89,376	£20,378	£0	0	20.11
Fix Compressed Air Leaks	89,311	£20,141	£10,000	0.5	20.09
Lid Insulation for Furnaces	44,034	£1,101	£2,500	2.3	8.04
Installation of an Automated Monitoring and Targeting System	243,656	£22,950	£80,000	3.5	46.88
Installation of LED Lighting	3,300	£892	£3,200	3.6	0.74
Replace Old Furnaces	370,440	£14,781	£60,000	4.1	67.62
Replace Extraction System	21,315	£5,757	£36,200	6.3	4.80
Install Solar Array	172,152	£50,925	£338,000	6.7	38.73
Totals	1,083,205	£148,109	£529,900		218.17

Testimonials

"Our company was helped by Pro-Enviro which offered comprehensive advice to the company. They took an analysis of unproductive energy
use and monitored half hourly data. This gave a clear indication of significant wasted energy. They also helped us in the grant application process which made the whole process of application for funding rather painless."

Tony Sartorius – Chairman