NPP Ferolit is one of the industry’s leading companies in Ukraine. Located in the town of Gorishni Plavni in the Kremenschuk iron ore district of central Ukraine about a 4-hour drive from Kiev, it provides domestic and foreign companies with high-quality castings and piping details.
For more than 18 years, the company, which employs 380 staff, has also been a leading manufacturer and supplier of the grinding bodies required to break down the raw materials used in the cement and metallurgical industries. NPP Ferolit produces about 40,000 tons of 20 to 120mm iron grinding balls per year in various geometric shapes including ball, ellipsoid, cylpebs and tetrahedron.
NPP Ferolit offers a broad range of services spanning the entire production process. At its production facilities it conducts the design, development of technical documentation, manufacturing of pattern tools, procurement, machining of material, heat treatment, pre-installation testing as well as warranty and post-warranty services. Quality control of products is carried out in the production laboratory on high-precision equipment manufactured in Germany and Russia.
The company’s success is underpinned by modern equipment featuring the latest technologies and the scientific expertise of its specialist team which stays up to date with foundry developments.
In the future, NPP Ferolit plans to branch out and provide a variety of castings for the railway industry.
Making Ferolit and its products more competitive
In order to retain its competitiveness against a backdrop of rising supply from foundries in India and China, NPP Ferolit, which already had an idea of the possibilities offered by DISA molding machines, asked the company to develop a solution that matched its needs for economy and performance.
The DISAMATIC C3-250 series, which was launched in December 2016, is built in Bangalore by DISA India. This machine produces up to 250 molds/hour, is fully compatible with DISAMATIC patterns, and has all advantages of vertical flask-less lines. Due to cost optimizations, the machine is highly competitive, according to Ferolit’s CFO, Alla Voitiuk.
“New production facilities should not only increase the productivity of our foundry, but the chosen solution will also affect the profitability of production, because DISAMATIC C3-B-250 allows us to manufacture products with the lowest cost price, this means that the decision will increase our competitiveness,” said Ferolit owner and investor Alexander Moroz.
Successful implementation within 6 months
The project was completed in around six months, including manufacturing, delivery and installation. The machine went live in April 2018.
DISA representatives were proud to see the first Indian manufactured DISAMATIC C3 go-live in Europe. With R&D taking place in Denmark, India and China, sales support coming from Russia, project management from Denmark and installation teams from Brazil and Denmark, it was a group global effort.
“The next step should be to switch to some more complicated castings, because with DISA equipment we have made a qualitative leap to a different level,” Moroz said. “Therefore, we are building plans, and now with the availability of the necessary equipment and qualified personnel, we can branch out from grinding bodies to the production of other parts. At the moment, we are actively negotiating with potential customers in Ukraine and abroad and are open to any offers.”
Ferolit’s case is an example of the flexibility of DISA machinery and shows that nearly every foundry can find a fitting solution within the company’s range of equipment.
The new installations at Ferolit include:
• DISAMATIC C3-B-250 flaskless molding system with mold sizes of 535 x 650 x 120-340 mm, producing up to 250 molds/hour.
• MELT & HOLD, induction medium-frequency melting furnace system Ultramet 1250/2 EGP 2000 SE EGES (Turkey), with a melting volume of 2 tonnes.
• Flaskless molding line from OMEGA (UK) with mold size 1200 x 1000 x 425/425 mm, producing 10-25 molds/hour.
• Shot-blasting machine HC 1000-2 ABRAZIV kft (Hungary) with a load capacity of 1000kg and 1500 x 1000 mm.
• Vertical milling machining center VM 3 HAAS (USA) with a working area of 1015 x 660 x 635 mm and 1800kg.
• Milling and engraving woodworking machine ATS 2513.4D Auto, with a working area of 2500 x 1300 x 380 mm. ■