AFS Corporate Member Torrance Castings hosted the AFS Engineering Division on February 18 to tour a new molding line and mold/casting cooling for which the company received the Engineering and Smart Manufacturing Division’s Plant Engineering Award. The award recognizes companies for plant engineering achievements and innovative solutions for modern issues faced in the foundry industry. Torrance Castings used automated casting cooling racks to eliminate the process bottleneck associated with variable cooling times.  

The new, more efficient process uses automated robotics and a “cooling house” that allows each mold to be placed in a designated area to reach its unique cooling time before the system retrieves them to move forward. This allows for much greater flexibility and casting throughput, among other benefits.