While robots are a common sight in high-volume, repetitive manufacturing facilities, one Wisconsin foundry is successfully incorporating them into its low-volume, high-mix shop floor.

Automation isn’t just for high-volume manufacturers – and one family-owned foundry in Wisconsin is looking to use the technology to make its operations safer and more efficient. 

AFS Corporate Member Eck Industries in Manitowoc began investing in robotics around 2017, and by the end of this year, it expects to have 16 installed throughout its foundry. 

“The first job was, how do we pour robotically?” said Tyler Eck, vice president of sales and engineering and part of the fourth generation of Ecks to lead the foundry. “Once we did that successfully, it really spawned additional ideas after that.”

Engineering Automation for High-Mix, Low-Volume Casting

According to ICA Agency Alliance, a typical high-volume car assembly in the U.S. can produce about 1,500 cars each day. Robots are common in this environment, where the base of each item is the exact same. The same programming can be used to perform repetitive assembly all along the line. 

But for a foundry like Eck Industries, “I think it’s always important when we talk about automation in our business for people to understand that we’re not a high-volume foundry,” Eck said. “Our business is really much higher-mix, lower-volume work.”
That complexity makes automation a challenge, but not an impossibility. It also requires a keener focus on how the machines will be used. 

For example, the team focused its first implementation on its highest-volume line to reduce the operators’ exposure to risk. “He would be handling molten metal every 5–10 minutes,” which is a lot of heavy lifting, while also having to focus on other moving pieces around him, Eck noted. 

Once the team was able to key in on how to safely and consistently move and pour the molten metal, they realized they could also consolidate stages in the process. After the metal was poured and cooled, the production piece would move to another station and another operator to perform another task––and so on, with each operator facing risks with the manual process. 

“Instead of having operators A, B, and C perform separate functions, we asked how can we automate one unit for A through C? Have one operator and one robot do multiple operations,” Eck said. “That was really the start of it.”

Broadening the Scope

Since that humble beginning, Eck Industries has expanded its use of robots through other functions within the foundry, from core-setting to casting cleaning. 

“We’ve incorporated a number of modifications to the robots to fulfill those additional functions,” Eck said. “They’re able to bring the casting to the work piece or be fitted with cleaning tools. There are a couple different methods we use depending on the parts and the part size.”

One of the company’s biggest advantages is its in-house automation team. At the start, Eck said, they set about to “hire some smart people” to guide the effort, including a “world class” automation engineer––but there was a catch.

“He’d done this in different industries, but never in a foundry,” Eck said. Eck Industries also brought on an engineering lead who had seen automation in other foundries and could provide the industry-specific knowledge for the implementation. 

“Having the know-how in house meant we didn’t need to hire consultants, so that made the price point for what we were doing even more attractive,” Eck said. 

Fresh Eyes on the Industry

Such a big shift in operations can sometimes be challenging to get buy-in from management and workers. But Eck Industries endured another shift shortly before it took on the automation challenge. 

In 2016, Kiley Eck Hayon, Eck’s cousin and an AFS Board Member, took the reins as president of the company from her father, and Eck shifted into his leadership role as well. “It was really a set of fresh eyes and a different outlook on the industry,” Eck said. 

That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any skepticism about the new direction, but it was more focused around the capabilities of the robots themselves: Would they be able to perform the expected tasks?

Eck and the engineers invested heavily in the planning to ensure the first implementation was a slam dunk to alleviate the concern, and it was ultimately a resounding success. 

Nevertheless, the initiative wasn’t without challenges. “Timetables get longer as you get deeper into the weeds on a lot of these projects, but supporting [the process and the team] and making a successful project has been very rewarding,” he said.

Empowerment, Not Replacement

That success also led to more buy-in, as employees now found themselves in a position where they could work smarter, not harder. They weren’t paid any less when they worked with the robots, but they were able to do the work more safely.

Eck Industries is a proud union shop that values its employees, so reducing headcount was not a goal of the robot strategy. But it has helped the foundry weather some big challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Because we took this on a few years before COVID and had some momentum with it, having the automation piece was a huge advantage for us,” Eck said. “If we hadn’t done that, we would have been in a world of hurt like so many others.”

It’s also helped the company during the present labor shift away from industrial careers. 

“We’re losing a lot of skill sets throughout the foundry industry,” Eck said. “It’s not a destination industry [for a lot of engineering students.] It’s challenging us to be more competitive.”

It also requires unique experience. “I don’t need another person who knows how to run a CAD program; I need the someone who knows how to melt, pour, and handle metal,” so they’re not afraid of what’s happening on the shop floor, he said. 

The Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF), where Eck serves on the board, has also helped tap into technology schools as well as engineering colleges to boost awareness of the industry and recruit young workers. 

Defense Ready

Robots and automation aren’t the only investments Eck Industries is making in technology. The company announced in April it had achieved Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Level 2. The government-developed cybersecurity initiative is required for companies that have defense-related contracts. It ensures that contractors and suppliers have protocols in place to protect sensitive data, such as casting drawings and specifications. 

“If you want a seat at the table, you better have your certification or you’re not going to get any business,” Eck said. 
The certification also provides confidence to non-defense customers, because it shows that the company is capable of protecting proprietary information that is transmitted to it.

The process to achieve certification was intense, Eck said. “We had to develop all these policies and procedures around our IT space. In addition, we had to upgrade equipment and add software to allow for constant monitoring.”

It’s also not a one-and-done process. The company will have to take steps to maintain the certification.

The Road Ahead

Despite several economic challenges facing manufacturers in the U.S., Eck said the future is bright for metal casting––at least in certain industries. Foundries that focus on high-volume commodity products will likely face continued competition from overseas. “At the end of the day, it’s all about money. I don’t know anybody that’s pouring simple castings that can compete with an overseas location,” Eck said.

However, foundries that focus on more complex castings or export-controlled castings, such as defense and aerospace-related parts, will continue to have a critical role in the U.S. 

For Eck Industries itself, growth is still on the horizon, but for now it’s slowing its roll to focus on what it’s doing right now. 
“There are still a lot of opportunities out there to continue to get better,” Eck said. “We want to continue to create a safer and more efficient environment.” 

That doesn’t mean the foundry won’t invest in additional technology––it just might be driven more by external forces, like a “customer with an intriguing project.” 

Eck Industries stands out in the metalcasting marketplace, not just for its technology but for its culture. “We’re still family-owned,” Eck said. That means the foundry can move fast, take smart risks, and stay focused on what matters: making great castings and taking care of its people.