1. Striving for continuity of quality Clayware
There are manyvariablesinvolvedwithanadoptedprocessinsanitary-waremanufacture.Manyleave
Managers,supervisorsandcastingstaff baffledwhenanissue cannotbe tracedwithcertaintytoa
particularproblem.Itisoftenlike chasingghostswheneventhe date,mouldandactual operatorare
knownbutno evidence showsof problemcause. IntermittentClayware faultsare acontinuousjourney
for manycompanies
The solutionisprocesscontrol.Thisisfine whenthe procedure ispredictable where variationcanbe
measured.Howeverthisisextremelydifficulttoachieve whenaprocessinvolvesmultiple taskswith
changingconditions.Whetherthisisbyactual mouldcondition,mouldsnotcastfor absenteeism, staff
shortage,off days,rainyor sunnydays,oldmoulds,new moulds.Thislistisalmostinexhaustible with
manycompaniesable toadd more reasonsforvariability. Sliporclaypropertiesare oftencitedas
possible reasonsforinternal cracks,distortionandagainunexplainedloss. Mouldquality,age and
conditiondue todamage byunavoidable mouldhandlingwiththe existingcastingmethodorpoor
mouldingblockingskills.Finallystaff experience,skill,attitude,language misunderstandingare amain
battle cry. Sanitaryware castingespeciallycomplex one piece WCisa day longprocesswithmany
differentskillsandprocedurestomemorize.How oftenisitsaidGoodcastingstaff are difficultto
find.Seniormanagementpointtowardinadequate supervision. Whateverthe reasonthere appearsto
be no suitable solutionwithexceptionof highpressurecastingwhichalsohaslimitationsandisatthe
momenta highcapital investment.
Batterycastinghas come a longwayin easingsome issues,theydohoweverhave theirlimitations.
It’snot easyto replace mouldsmidwaythroughamouldlife cycle asevenmore slipleakingisoften
induced.
Partcial machine castperhapsfor trainingnew staff oran urgentsalesrequestalsocause quality
consistency
Machine/batterysystemsare oftencastasa full line say12 minutestofill andthendrainedasa full line
say 8 minutes
Demouldingtakesmuchlongerfrom30 minutesto60 minutes.Itisa considerabletime delaybetween
start and finish,distortionfromstartingtoo earlytocrackingfrom leavingortaking toolongisanother
intermittentissue.
Solidcastareas are oftendesignedthickertryingtocompensate forclaycrackingto avoidsofthollow
sections.Sometimesthe entire machineisopenedtoallow airdryingby fansprior to final de-moulding
to settingbench.
To summarize Batterycasingsystemsusingplastermouldsneedtobe deskilled creatingasystem
wherebyStaff canbe trainedona repeatable cycle of 2to 4 minutes.The restof the processiseither

2. automaticallyormechanicallycontrolled.Mouldmoisture contentiscloselycontrolledwithhumidity
and temperature sensorswithinthe dryersection.
As mentionedearlierHighpressure castingmodulesofferthisthe downsideisaconsiderable financial
outlay. Highvolume outputof a particulardesign isnotalwayssuitable formanymanufacturersmarket
requirement.A fastmouldchange systemisnow available butagainfinancial outlayisconsiderable.
Cell castingisan entirelydifferentapproachusingproven techniquesappliedinadifferentmanner.
Giventhe large designrange requiredbytoday`smanufacturerthisisperhapsthe nextgeneration
castingsystemforWC
Major advantagesare;
Staff can be trainedwithinanhour.
Productivitypermanequalshigh pressure castingoutput.
Multiple designsproducedonone line
Fast mouldchange forurgentsalesrequirement
Finallythe newapproachmustaddressthe gradual decline althoughsometimesabrupt deterioration of
mouldqualityspecificallyseamfitandprogressive slipleakage.Plausiblereasonsare aboundhowever
rather pointlessif the problemspersist.Higherclaylossandinconsistentclay-ware qualityare the
reward.
JohnFurber