If you need a competitive North American source of sand cast iron parts, this blog is for you. We recently completed Phase One of a modern, highly efficient casting and machining plant in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi. Dedicated to serving NA OEM customers, this offers a host of advantages over other sources.

Why Manufacture in Mexico?

Mexico has a young and educated population with many students graduating from the plethora of technological universities. The cost of manufacturing is lower than in the US, yet proximity results in far shorter supply chains. Since July 2020 the US, Mexico, Canada trade agreement (USMCA, the successor to NAFTA), has facilitated easy movement of goods from Mexico to the markets to the north.

San Luis Potosi is in north-central Mexico, midway between Monterrey and Mexico City. In recent years it has become a hub for production of precision components.

A New Sand Casting Plant

The sand casting process is very old, but the technology for making parts this way continues to evolve. Impro has installed two sand casting lines at the San Luis Potosi manufacturing campus, both dedicated to production of iron parts. These are:

• Line #1 – a Sinto automated flaskless green sand casting line capable of producing parts weighing up to 88 lbs and with an annual capacity of 5,000 tons
• Line #2 – a Künkel-Wagner (KW) static pressure green sand line capable of casting parts up to 880 lbs and with an annual capacity of 40,000 tons

Technology and Skills Transfer

Sand casting requires deep expertise to optimize the performance of modern, highly automated equipment. To get the new plant in Mexico operational in the least time possible, Impro relocated specialists from our other foundries around the world. Tasked with getting the lines running, workforce training, and implementation of key procedures and disciplines, this team is ensuring the new plant uses best practices in pursuit of business objectives and customer requirements.

Quality and Efficiency

The automated flaskless casting line is highly productive and produces parts with little variability. The static pressure process employed by the KW line achieves high levels of sand compaction. This results in a dense and therefore rigid mold that provides good dimensional stability and excellent surface finish. The efficiency of the modern equipment is extremely good.

Secondary Operations in San Luis Potosi

Castings need machining, and often inspection as well as coating or painting before they are ready for use. The Impro sand casting plant includes a large precision machining workshop with an extensive range of modern precision technologies.

Supplemented with heat treatment, cleaning, inspection and painting equipment, this provides vertically integrated manufacture of large and small cast metal parts. Assembly services are also available if needed.

Parts Produced by Sand Casting

Impro sand casts a wide range of parts for customers in the automotive, high horsepower engine, construction, agricultural and hydraulic equipment industries. Examples of parts produced in gray, ductile and CG iron include:

• Cylinder heads and blocks
• Frames
• Housings
• Manifolds

A Streamlined Supply Chain for North American OEMs

Manufacturers have become acutely aware of the problems long supply chains can cause. To help North American customers avoid these challenges, Impro has recently opened a large and modern production campus in Mexico.

Encompassing casting, machining and finishing, this has the capacity to make 45,000 tons of iron sand castings per year. In common with the other Impro plants around the world, the sand casting plant in Mexico operates rigorous quality assurance systems that ensure customers receive parts they can rely on.

If you need a source for iron sand castings in North America, we offer a competitive solution. Contact us to discuss your requirements.