Harrison Steel Castings: A Case Study
Executive Summary
Situated in the small farming community of Attica, Indiana, privately-held Harrison Steel Castings Company faced a major challenge: a shrinking skilled workforce in a competitive employment market and growing customer demand. They believed automation offered the solution they needed. However, the journey to automation was a pathway paved with uncertainty, obstacles, and risks. To increase their potential to succeed, they partnered with long-time supplier Norton | Saint-Gobain and new partner Andromat. This is the story of how this triad forged into unknown territory to produce a 2X improvement in Harrison’s material removal rate, using just one trained operator.
The Partners
Harrison Steel Castings
Founded nearly 120 years ago, Harrison Steel Castings Company has grown to be a world leader in the production of highly engineered carbon and low/medium alloy steel castings. Harrison operates a state-of-the-art, technology-driven international engineering and manufacturing foundry with a US physical plant encompassing 700,000 square feet under roof. It is capable of castings ranging from 400 to 18,000 pounds net casting weight. Their work in making such large component parts has made them the preferred supplier to many of the world’s most prestigious names in agriculture, heavy equipment, energy, military, forestry, and oil & gas. A large part of their business serves the mining industry.
Norton Abrasives
Founded in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1885, Norton grew into a global leader in the abrasives industry before being acquired by industrial giant Saint-Gobain in 1990. Today, Norton offers the widest portfolio of grinding, cutting, blending, finishing, and polishing solutions for all markets, materials, and applications using the most advanced, affordable technology. Norton delivers powerful, precise, easy-to-use options designed and engineered for optimum performance, cost and safety. For this project, Norton tapped into its Abrasive Process Solutions (APS) program and lab at the global Higgins Grinding Technology Research Center in Northboro, Massachusetts.
Andromat®
As part of the 215-year-old Henschel Industritechnik GmbH in Kassel, Germany, Andromat® has been making powerful manipulators for handling and processing castings or other parts in foundries, forges, and steelworks since 1975. Their machines are built on the premise of efficient simplicity, offering a state-of-the-art control concept that synchronizes the master arm with working arms and a Human Machine Interface (HMI). The manipulator provides a continuous set of diagnostic data to ensure the highest levels of control and safety. With over 800 units worldwide, Andromat has positioned itself as the world-leader in manipulator technology.
The Situation
Harrison Steel is a manufacturer of many of the steel components that are integral parts of equipment in various industries. The steel castings making up these equipment frames may weigh up to 18,000 lbs. So, basically, you set them on the ground with a forklift or crane then work on them in place.
When Harrison Steel came to Norton, the process of removing the gates and risers from the steel castings was all manual. Harrison uses a welding technique known as carbon arc gouging, a process by which a carbon electrode and compressed air are used to melt and remove metal. The raw material they start with runs up to 35,000 pounds. In combination with grinding, the carbon arc gouging is then used to reduce and shape the material.
Harrison was using primarily torches, carbon arc gouging, and handheld grinders for stock removal and surface finishing during different stages of the component part production. They continue to use Norton 8” wheels with handheld grinders for some of the intricate work. It’s a challenging job requiring a highly skilled employee.
Finding skilled employees was always a challenge. But post-COVID, it became more difficult to meet the challenges of a more competitive foundry industry.
“Our company culture is built around ‘Continuous Improvement,’” explained Levi Knowlton, Harrison Steel Engineering Manager. “We were looking to modernize and make a better work environment while also increasing our productivity.”
The Solution
In 2023, Harrison began working with the German company Andromat to design an automation cell that could help them meet their goals. They also reached out to Norton | Saint-Gobain, knowing the automated equipment would need the right abrasives. Saint-Gobain had recently opened their new APS testing facility with its own automation cell. Senior Project Manager Tony Landes and Application Engineer Nathan Jackson led the APS project team through the R&D phase.
Harrison Steel provided several samples of their steel material to the APS team for testing. About the size of a laptop computer, each sample was 1.5” thick and weighed 35-40 lbs.
First, the ingot was mounted on the APS robot and the bonded abrasive wheel Harrison was already using was tested. Then, samples of a new coated abrasive belt called RazorStar® were tested. To everyone’s surprise, the coated abrasive belt outperformed the bonded abrasive wheel by nearly 2:1. When this data was originally given to Harrison, they were apprehensive and resistant, having no experience working with coated abrasive belts. The APS Lab supplied video evidence and also shared several power readings taken from the automation cell. The customer was convinced and decided to proceed.
The RazorStar belt outperformed the bonded wheel by nearly
2:1
“Truly, the APS data and videos were instrumental in changing our fears to acceptance,” Knowlton acknowledged. “They were especially helpful in convincing our management team to move forward.”
The Solution
The next step was one of the most critical.
Harrison pulled together the engineers from their own team along with the engineers from Andromat and the engineers from the APS team. By troubleshooting as a team, they were able to customize the automation cell design to create something unlike anything Andromat had done before.
There are two swappable heads the operator can use. From the cab, the operator begins by attaching the 24” wheel head to the robotic arm of the cell. Norton’s custom spec grinding wheel is used for knocking the slag off the casting. Then, from the cab, the operator can switch over to a belt head fitted with a made-to-order RazorStar belt for bulk material removal on the casting.
No one had ever used the Andromat belt head for bulk material removal and Harrison had insisted that swapping the heads must be accomplished without the operator leaving the cab. This was also a new functionality for Andromat.
The Results
The new automated cell went into operation in May 2024. “We have hit all our target objectives,” said Knowlton. “Norton | Saint-Gobain got us exactly what we wanted and continues to work with us to optimize our process.”
In addition to adapting the original belt width to reduce edge tearing, Norton has also reformulated the 24” grinding wheel.
The early wheels were closing up so adjustments were made to improve performance and extend wheel life. Senior Product Engineer Ben Lyons was instrumental for the grinding wheel spec to maximize efficiency in both removal rates and life. “The technical collaboration continues,” Knowlton observed. “I can start asking tough technical questions, and Norton puts me in touch with a person who can answer the questions.”