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2 minute read

Thomas Dudley continues its £10m investment programme

Thomas Dudley’s multi-award winning foundry has announced the installation of a new Disamatic D3 – Z – 425 moulding line as part of a major new investment in excess of £10 million that will see a brand-new foundry constructed alongside the existing foundry in Tipton, a stone’s throw from the Dudley operation.

The major investment will enable significant business benefits to be delivered to existing and prospective customers. The new moulding line will increase manufacturing capacity by 50% and castings produced will have twice the cooling time, reducing stress relief to the mould and optimising ductile iron integrity. In addition, the new facility will have the capability to produce SiMo castings to customer specifications.

The moulding line forms part of a major new investment in excess of £10 million / Picture: Thomas Dudley Foundry

 

The firm said the new Disamatic moulding facility will further enhance Thomas Dudley’s capability to engineer high-quality castings to extremely tight tolerances whilst delivering higher quality and an even better service.

The installation also means a whole new Sand Plant, with pouring/casting handling systems is required for the site. The firm was keen to highlight that extraction and ventilation is of key importance, as air quality within a foundry needs to be of the highest standards. With this in mind, Dudley Foundry has provisioned extremely stringent procedures in place regarding its filtered air extraction, therefore a new extraction system is to be fitted throughout the foundry.

In 2019, work will commence in providing dedicated finishing facilities including Shot Blast, Core Making, Warehousing, a Filtration Plant, Compressors and Robotic Fettling. Once complete, the Thomas Dudley foundry will be a European leader with the levels of flexibility, in terms of volumes and grades they will be able to offer alongside its two dedicated, self-sufficient foundries.

Mick Cramphorn, Foundry Director at Thomas Dudley Foundry said: “We have now invested over £25million in the last 10 years in our foundry capabilities. This third new Disamatic moulding line will produce approximately 425 moulds per hour within a fully integrated facility.

“It gives us a competitive advantage as this investment combines safety, quality and productivity into a world-class manufacturing technological and flexible foundry solution. We take on our values and are extremely committed to the investment in our people and therefore with this new foundry, it will generate future job opportunities, and further support our commitment to the Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills.”

Thomas Dudley has invested more than £25m over the last 10 years / Picture: Thomas Dudley Foundry