About Scania
Scania is a world leader in manufacturing transport solutions and trucks for distribution, long-distance, and heavy transport applications. Founded in 1911, the company is currently based in Södertälje, Sweden. At its core, Scania prides itself on developing sustainable and fuel-efficient transport solutions for its customers in over 100 countries.
Background
Scania announced one of its most significant single investments in a new industrial plant back in 2017: a new foundry to be located at the company’s main facility in Södertälje, 55 km south of Stockholm. The upgraded casting facility occupies 35,000m2 of their 98,000m2 overall production facility premises.
Approach
Scania wanted to use only the most modern technologies and equipment to achieve its production and sustainability goals. It was expected to increase its melting capacity by threefold using medium-frequency induction furnaces.
Before deciding on the furnace charging equipment for their foundry, Scania conducted thorough evaluations from every perspective, including efficiency, maintainability, operator safety, and environmental impact.
Scania has been a long-standing customer of Cyrus and its parent company, General Kinematics. They contacted Cyrus because, in previous Scania projects, Cyrus’ project engineers were passionate, quick to respond, and able to adapt to Scania’s requirements and technical vision. As a result, Cyrus was commissioned to design a modern furnace charging system.
Solution
Because Scania was familiar with Cyrus and its equipment, it decided that the Cyrus Mobile Furnace Charger was precisely what it needed to reach its production goals. Scania had operated Cyrus Furnace Chargers at their old foundry, so their team chose it because their experiences with its safety features, excellent data communication technology, low energy consumption, and longevity of components for minimal downtime and maximum productivity.
Results
After installing the Cyrus Mobile Furnace Charger, Scania reported improved working conditions compared to their previous equipment, such as:
- The automatically locked guard device for the pendulum flaps dramatically reduced dust and material spelling on the driveway to the melt deck, helping to keep it clean and safe.
- Thanks to the wear liner on special rubber layers, noise reduction during scrap loading into the furnace charger bunker was contained within the sandwich design.
- Reliable carriage drive systems are leading to fast tap-to-tap time, considering the safety of operators while furnace charger drives on melt-deck.
- Accurate weighing/load cell results providing weights of scrap- and additive loads (+/-5kg or better) for charge traceability purposes
- A failure analysis system in case of emergencies.
- Wear liners are still in perfect condition after three years of operation.
- Operating possibilities include the machine, melt deck control room, and scrap area separation wall.
This new foundry allowed Scania to optimize its casting methods, which tripled its production capacity and cut its energy consumption in half. This was an excellent upgrade for Scania, which values decreasing its energy footprint as much as possible.
The Head of the Melting Area at Scania’s new plant stated, “We have been working with Cyrus in different areas of our foundries, mainly in furnace charging, for about 20 years now, and not only do we appreciate Cyrus’s solid technology, but also the outstanding service offered and the relationship we built with them.”
Contact a Cyrus foundry expert today to improve your foundry systems. We’ll help you find the perfect equipment for your process.
