The Iron Age 1923-04-26: Vol 111 Iss 17

THE IRON AGE New York, April 26, 1923 ESTABLISHED 1855 VOL. Ill, No. 17 \laterial Cost Accounting in a Foundry Outline of Procedure and Some of the Blank Forms Suitable for the Small as Well as Large Foundry BY F. C. EVERITT AND JOHNSON HEYWOOD* ices, receipts and usage must be kept of all ma- rials. It is not necessary to describe the purchase ind material receipt forms, for these are in use. The amount of materials on hand are recorded on 12. This form gives a tual inventory. If the ties shown are checked tervals, when the items the minimum, accuracy | sts are to be accurate, a careful records of orders, l supplies correctly, if the proper balance is to be kept in the value of the running inventory. Before describing the correct way of pricing mate- rials, let us see why that most commonly used method, the average price, is wrong. A simple calculation, based on assumed figures, will prove the point. Suppose there have been purchased 1000 units of mate- rial at $.50, amounting to $< $500 and that 500 units have been issued at this price, leav- ; e maintained. ’ . . ing a balance of 500 amount- , HE methods outlined in this 7 Some of the materials are - ' ing to $250. Then there were d from stock upon a re- article are adaptable to any received 1000 more units, at issued by someone in foundry, small or large. They are, $.40, amounting to $400. This ty. Two similar forms sed, marked in some way } with the changes which will be ob- gives a balance on hand of 1500 units, valued at $650. Te rentiate between pro- vious to any reader, now in use im Dividing this value by the and non-productive foundries making gray iron, malle- total units in stock, gives an in order to facili- able, steel, or non-ferrous castings. average price per unit of cording by the cost s $.433. The requisitions for In devising the methods prac- Two lots of these units are | of material are sum- tical accuracy has been the chief then issued, before another separately, so that may be charged and to the correct accounts. are not accurate, consideration, for if cost figures purchase is made, thus leav- ing a balance of three hun- they are worse dred units valued at $129.90. not necessary to use than useless. They are as simple A third purchase of 1000 ms for flour, core oil, pounds. These items as can be, accuracy considered. units is then recorded, this time at $.30 per unit, making harged to the expense The system may seem somewhat the amount $300, which when when they are complicated; actually, it is so sim- carried to the balance col- ed, and spread to the . : ae anal umns gives a total stock of with the other over- ple to operate that im a sma 1300 units valued at $429.90. foundry the records can be main- This gives a new average ron, scrap, fuel and tained on part of the time of a sin- price of $.3307. Two lots are reported, not on re- , but on form 18—a sential to any well- foundry. The ac- for these items will ed further on in this when we discuss the and metal cost. Let us see now how the kinds of material are priced into the product. market price of materials remained constant, vould be no difficulty in correctly pricing the s used, but since a foundry nearly always has several lots of the same material, bought at prices, incorrect choice of the price to use erlous inaccuracies in costing. the materials are purchased, the amounts irged to the inventory account in the general and when they are withdrawn from stock the the withdrawals is credited to the accounts. it is necessary to price the materials and gle bookkeeper. er, Franklin, Basset & Co., Inc then issued and the stock ex- hausted. The total purchases of ———-—________— $1,200 have been debited to the inventory account. The total! issued credited to the inventory account is only $1199.51. This gives a shortage of $.49. While this is a small amount, it exists on only one item. Similar discrepancies on all of the items of materials and supplies purchased by a foundry would amount to a good big sum. The difference of $.49 is due to the fractional aver- age prices. Had the decimals been carried out to sev- eral additional places, theoretically the $1199.51.would have amounted to $1,200, and the accounting would be correct on an average price basis. The fact is, how- ever, that most clerks cut the average price short in the number of decimals to save figuring, and the inaccu- racies are multiplied; consequently this method cannot be approved. There is but one correct method, which is to cost out the materials and supplies at the price purchased, 1165 ;® j “y 1 h | . } : 1166 plus any freight and carrying charges, the sum of which has constituted the total debit to the general ledger account for that purpose. The stores inventory record, Form 12, makes this possible. The first lot is 1000 units at $.50, which was entirely exhausted before the new lot was drawn upon, although the new lot was received March 1, and ma- terial was being issued from the first lot up to and including March 6. On March 6 100 units were requi- sitioned, but there were only 50 left in the first lot; consequently the requisitions were priced 50 at $.50 each to close out the first lot, and 50 at $.55 each to begin withdrawals from the second lot. It will be clear that in practice it is not necessary actually to use first that lot which was first received, but in pricing the issued material and supplies, the price of the first lot received should be used until the equiva- lent in quantity of that lot has been used. The physi- cal inventory must be priced in the same way. Whether the material be bolts, pig iron, sand, coke or miscellaneous supplies, the same method must be used in order to keep the book inventory in the general ledger in agreement with the physical inven- tory. Persistent checking of the physical inventory will keep the inaccuracies due to shrinkage and error of count to a minimum and avoid any marked dis- crepancies which would otherwise develop. There is a necessary exception in the general method of accounting for materials, to be noted in the case of pig and scrap iron. The daily foundry report, form 19, shows the amount of material used and the foundry production as a whole. The actual consump- tion of pig and scrap iron, however, is not the weight drawn from the physical stock, as recorded on the stores inventory record, but is the total weight found in the good castings produced, plus the loss in melting. The balance, including defective castings, gates, sprues, and over-iron, is remelted and moved in a circle, so to speak, E In detail, here is how the metal cost is determined. As we shall see in another article on overhead ex- pense, the overhead of each department is gathered on an analysis form for that department. Form 37-8 is the analysis for the melting department. It is advisable to divide the melting cost into two parts: therefor we develop on form 37-8a, not here shown, the metal cost. The total expense of the melt- ing is found to be $935.51, to which is added the direct melting labor. This gives a total of $1285.51 for melt- ing labor and expense. “Pounds of metal melted” and “Cost per pound to melt” are not used as cost figures, but are a guide to the efficiency of the operations. “Total pounds of all castings produced” includes all castings, good and bad. This item in connection with the labor and expense gives a base cost per pound of $.00415. Let us see why this “base” cost is used. Of the total metal charged into the cupola, only part of it is found in the castings, consequently in order to arrive at the melting cost of good castings, there must be deducted the scrap returned to the cupola, consisting of scrapped castings, sprues, gates and over-iron; but not the scrapped castings returned from the other departments, such as the machine shop, mounting shop, ete. The net weight of these good castings, 280,000 lb., is ob- tained from the foundry report summary, form 20. If this weight were used to determine the melting cost, the cost per pound to melt would be 1,285.51 an $.00459 280,000 In foundries whose product is uniform and whose percentage of loss is fairly constant, this method will give satisfactory results; but in foundries with a variety of work and correspondingly varying per- centages of loss, it will not give correct costs. Using the base cost per pound, a type of casting with 5 per cent loss would carry a melting cost of $.0043575 per pound for good castings, while a 15 per cent loss on another class of casting would result in a melt- ing cost per pound of good castings of $.0047725. The 15 per cent class thus shows a melting cost per pound for good castings which is $.000415 higher than f THE IRON AGE Apri the 5 per cent class. The difference n significant, but for a large production th: ry quickly amount to thousands of dollars. Note that the percentage of loss is { ratio of bad castings to good castings, ; e rati of bad to total. The unit cost is detern 1 on the basis only of good and bad castings pr: i a reason for using this basis to determine init of melting will be obvious with the follow tions. The analysis figures are used to illustrate the pojn: Pounds 400,000 20,000 380,000 70,000 Melting cost Melting loss Metal accounted for..... Gates, sprues, etc Net good and bad castings 310,000 RAGE GOOLE. 0 ics ck' oe sceuws Coat per Be: 40 MROiEs ois eed a 0 The return of the 70,000 lbs. of gates, les, ete., for remelting does not change the cost to melt 400,00 lbs. It has cost this amount of money, i: or and expense, to produce the 310,000 lbs. of cast In foundries making both large and smal! castings, the ratio of gates, sprues, etc., and melting ‘oss may have marked effect upon the accuracy of the unit cost. Only part of the metal melted is to be found iy the castings. The balance—bad castings, gates, sprues and over iron, must be returned to the pig and scrap- ped account. These items are taken from f and are as follows: Gates, sprues, etc 60,000 Tt ROGUE GETED 2c ces ce se eedeeeedivnes Total DED 04:0 cccdwe ween dade cha nee 100,000 lt Which at the scrap value of $18 per net ton, amounts to $900. Deducting this from 46,000, the total cost of the metal charged, leaves a net cost ol metal in good castings of $5,100. . The original value of the metal charged is found on the foundry report summary, form 20. eer Oe es we oe 150 tons @ $34 $5,100 OE ncstveesnve’ 50 tons @ 18 900 Titel ..cccwress 200 $6,000 Cost per ton Of Mim... csevenss $30 Scrap Returned— , Original value, 50 tons at mix ; OD 6 ciesceccesanses eee ee $30 $1,500 Scrap value, 50 tons at........ 18 90 Loss by difference in value $600 Net cost of metal in good CASTINGS ..ccccccvevsece Thus the $600 loss, by difference in value, remal in the net cost of metal, which is $5,100. : There is still a further loss, through melting, 0! per cent, amounting to 20,000 lbs, which has not Dee! considered -in the total scrap returned, but the va'u' of which remains in the $5,100 net cost of meta’. a melting loss, when added to the accounted-for scrap, makes a total of 120,000 Ibs., thus leaving 250,000 10 of good castings as shown on form 20, ana on melting sheet in the analysis. The cost of metal, at this point, for the 14" of good castings amounts to $5,100. The —_ value of the 140 tons at the mix cost of $30, amoun™ to $4,200, leaving a loss to be absorbed in pound cost of $900. = If the 140 tons of metal in the good cast! eo taken at the mix value of $30, amounting to *#°\": there would be an unaccounted for loss of | the cost would be too low, unless additiona! ages be considered to account for such losses If the 140 tons are figured at the net metal, $5,100, this $900 loss will be absorbed fe final cost per pound of good castings. The ad ton will then be $36.4286, instead of $30. It is, however, better to take scrap at scré because if, as sometimes happens, it 1s Sol’ bring only the market price, and the differ« show a loss in the inventory. While this accounting for metal takes car totals in the general ledger, the net cost ‘ } + Ww) aT Pai would meta}, THE ‘IRON AGE 1167 Th pn, |427 |e vsenté‘(;lSC~é=‘(;:s . a feo UN. | oorew yenED PREVIOUS PERIO03 || | DESCRIPTION OF STOCK (NOEK | 300 | ooo | 2-24] JL. | (2187200) | | STORES | 1/9 > paso} | | INVENTORY 920 i | RECORD | PceT | | | ma ee eS a IGNITE Dceces LOCATION 1 | RECEIVED i _ QUANTITIES USED ZB BALANCE _ A aare van | 7OAL| |] Pree = 3 @UAN |\ercceD| DATHORDER) An. |AIOONT cer Unyry | \nare| @UAN IA B nar QUAN nel pave| QUAN \s n 3S | cee ie Yawvorc & Pej CL | KSSVED (ASUED VED | /ooo || 2-// |2-15| 2567| /o00| #s000sDOd~=—Césw SN2zs] /oeol2AA #oo| 275] | o~ | , | 247| 450\ asoW/s| 125) 150 4 1} | 2 J i i | { : i 220| 200| é50h%5| soo| So} | 144 le | an 22) 75| s7sb¥e| so} o | hil 2 ja | \ Is i| Se a |_| [4/2e4l_ 200 275 | 4) ca Dh ied mee @ 2-27\|3-/ | 37357 | (000 | 429001 45001 es b/, | | /000 | | i. g Ic} So] 250} y y | ! 9 ne a a : ; \ DAILY CHARGE SHEET | —= = a ] 216 (RON SCRAP K erecta = | T i ' BLAST PRESSURE or | Re TURNS Las a - the article ee 2707. Zz BLAST ON FIRST /RON Amount of | =. ils on Hand wy x | * x aaa ; I | orded on _ S s | wy | tC | 12, Which lca ai nal a Perpetual | | r I Inventory Jenene t | annilinnenmnalins o2 | ' ¢ en = | | | \ 74 Form 18, an | ial for Any -" for Re- | a ge Pig Iron, *4 Fuel and . Without Use ? juisitions for | bf irpose. Ac- ' ng for the — i } , | t a is described hs ceniieidinimaenitil a= aniline aaa OVER (2ON BUM Step (RON Dorrort DeRoP | PLAST TODROP ove | ge Dek aii Oy a pe . - or. J 3 x 2 » mh r + —+ ' ae al | | ' | yee een pipes A ey ernrnien ag etn wipe ten, go Sh oe ete pp cal aret tae es Sguitt LON FOUNDRY REPORT oare _ UETAL C. HARGEO ro TAL “PRODUCTION f = = — = = = = = - - a ” a as. perce all METAL Ano CASTINGS WE/GAHTS re, - tt a sentgeanaentiepaeanamatnanaiana = —————— = ie _t Mere) ary? 14 locee| —_— At the Left is the +! Mey) foure’ 8 ler0eccls2 cece |= 7a Daily Foundry Re- re + } + + + —_— - + PILL P Lg LCESS = 7 ‘ \ port, Form 19, : | | } Gress Mall Lost € | 30000 pcece | “«A-B I ’ a | a | | t x ee lol me l > s Showing Amount of p ba _ | aa ems g . Material Used and Pit Fe 2 4 4 . & Pecco | ; % -—— |.520000 | 3u\7 | S7oejee | Patetow Cane _ + —j2£ 000} — the Foundry Pro- Bie 4 t + i +—+—_—++ = — _ + —+ t t ft duction as a Whole. t " t + | +—+—— + 4} poed en + + - The actual con- ; ‘i | | | | I Qefechve . |” |2eeee) + sumption is not the 5 H 4 i} TOTHL CASTINGS | 7 |8/o00e|J/ecee - weight drawn from ; +) 4 } } Taal Roca ————— = ; z | | it Moulding aad Bue ans 60200 bo000\/"F physical stock, as 5 + waa Rn I cial coll s | i% - . . recorded in the ae T + —_——_—_—_4 4— + _— — —— + - + ? | | Gress Producten Lass “ stores inventory fe a + : + + > . > | Joooee|/P. T\| Goo\oe|| % @uss Prater Loss 4 | | record, but the ; : —_—_— } total weight found ; ¥OLCOO 16000 00 | i | | & s = | i in good castings ig | Less Gates gad Iprves | 4 | g0000 4 Fo + Sccinlhosgll hell oe —_ T T : I produced plus the ces tr77 &r ~ 2oe eo2o°o ‘ a } | Section az = - }— }ceco-4 loss in melting eit i } | | $i: tT +— ———+ + - 4+ - + + T + a ¥ | | Met LOS Q 20800 | O-A- (MEN . a. a | aint winapatmeniegaliaenill Ares t- te: re focve| 7ye| S00\c0) mM lattMedt Parse [tz 4 7 : 1168 THE IRON AGE April 25, 1993 $5,100, is not used for cost pur- poses. The application of metal costs differs, since the unit cost is EXPENSE ANALYSIS based on the total castings produced. a The cost of the total metal Mime sha. melted is $6000. The amount of melting loss, 20,000 lb., deducted oe from the weight melted, 400,000 lb., | MISCEL. LABOR leaves 380,000 lb. which is the total metal accounted for. But this de- duction does not change the origina! cost of $6000. Since the unit cost is based on the total of good and bad castings produced, the bad castings must not be deducted until the cost by classi- fication or order is determined. —y | | FOR MONTH OF SANUVARY aaa | scruae | ee ae [~ | i Cone SMALL Tools (45 GREASE , WASTE RELINING MIATELIALS ee ee MSCEL. SUPPLIES Therefore the next step is to deduct MAINTENANCE MATERIALS the weight of gates, sprues and over- ; iron, 70,000 lb. at the scrap vatue tim, O606F See SWARE STEAM POwWh R £ L/GNT FAS 448. & AXP. FIRED CHA 4s on ZoTAs of $630, which gives the weight of the good and bad castings as 310,000 lb., and the net cost of metal in all castings as $5370. The cost of metal per pound for all castings nea | | | | : | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ‘ > oe ° : 6 | swA ENELA then becomes $.01732, which is the . a GEREROL COETORY : & , . Foun ORY base cost with 100 per cent good [" castings. TOTAL MELTING EXPENSE | Some foundries figure the cost on the pounds melted with a per- | CUREET PIELTING LABOR centage added to account for the - : : - TOTAL <Asoe KPENSE } intermediate losses. This method | sl caudsmneeeseeisaensataneiaacamiil area ee eT gives the same result, but is more POUN OS OF METAL MELTED complicated, and increases the possi- Cos PER Powe To MELT bility of errors. : : . 7oTAL 48S ALL CASTING 206 The melting loss in the cupola is [-—7—“4«<4@4¢ if » BASF <oST PER POUN 0. ~ the same for all metal. W e have as- sagen sumed, for the sake of simplicity, EXPENSE that the gates, sprues and over-iron bear a constant ratio to the weight L —j—____787 AL of castings produced. This, how- AaMaRéAL L008 £ EAPENSE y . ic « rave . . ; £AGOR LOSS ever, is not always true; but it anes would not be practicable in many EXPENSE Loss foundries to determine the actual a 7 weight of gates, sprues and runners WET LOSS for each classification of castings, | an L40;89 or for each order. In a foundry, however, whose Form 37-8, Analysis for the Melting Department castings are all small, particularly gated work, the gates and sprues may weigh half as_ castings alone, but must be determined on the basis much as the castings or even exceed the weight of the of the weight of all castings including the gates | al castings. This is frequently true in malleable and sprues. The gangway iron, over-iron, etc., wou ld | brass foundries. to be considered as a whole, as it would be quite In The calculation of metal on a specific order will practicable to determine this by classification or ord be as follows: of castings. Total castings 10,000 @ $0.0178 $5,370 These points are of vital importance in the rete! Bad oe wma ; _ mination of correct costs, and cannot be overiooke: credl . 0.000 @ O09 70 fron So far, the iron cost has been kept separat (ood castings 280,000 $0,100 the cost of melting. When estimating it may be neces Cost per lb. of good casting O1S21 . ‘ : that ’ ae sary to use new market prices for the metal so that 1 When these conditions exist the cost per pound stead of $30 per ton of mix, we may need to use 5% can not be determined on the basis of good and bad per ton of mix. This would require an adjustmer 17 i _SUMMAR\ RY LAR OA aD > ) RON FOUNDRY REPORT \IONTH __<platmaly —<—$ = . _SIETAL 7 UF 7 = a —_ — o = r 20, — = Ta Waard Pre 7AON |-ScRAP RON | ToTA [ar] 1 I lee Ve oe ren GhOS5 L055 I RETURNS "| Werloss Tame xese | ' 1 $ . ran? yr lua IETAL TOTAL T Las. D — - a | TE oem ole, —— Ta) © Mus | eoltousesl we Te CASTINGS Yrs Ste ata ere Tora! Wr | FE | wr vs - \-—+ + pa eee + == 4 + + — 22 | PROD | S+0 p loerec [Terai wr [Fel r lz sect || ; ot oe oe wt een + Toy YT eee Roe tf ms +++ i 4 | | | : ll LA |, 4 i) 6 | , l2e a So yeas 7 — ae 4 \27 Tt eee \ j22 PO |e: sy | al, 3000003 2090/0000 De0popooeo,a00 0! 5 | B0000 300/00 ¥00000,5700001 30000) 75 \zxoace| | 300001310000] e000] 75 | 30000|22.51¢0000) 70000 700K pies . 7 4a 7 i = aes $e + ta | = = 7 7 + + + Shenae Ie nimi GS <== i | - ta i | | ew 4 NUFACTURING EXPENSE 300\00, c PIGESCRAP Sead | = JOvANAL ENTRIES “VEL Acer 3oaod 60023 iN PROCESS j aes ak ot ©0005 (Nn Peocess Kovosd | i | | | a | M16 ESCRAP ACCT | aco pe Ry | | rhe Foundry Report Summary, Form 20, Gives the Net Weight of the Good Castings ril 26, 1923 metal cost to meet the market price of pig and . ealeulation will then be as follows: al cost per ton of mix $ 50.00 ost per ton of mIix.. 35.00 n cost per ton of mix $5.00 ncreast sa 16.7 metal cost per pound 01732 ent adjustment 00289 ind cost for estimate 02021 calculation on the metal sheet of the expense sis would be as follows: ' of mix @ $35 $7,000 redit (gates, sprues, etc.) 735 f metal, all castings $6,265 ht castings produced, lb 310.000 vr pound all castings $0.02021 correctness of the percentage application method roved by the fact that the cost per pound checks ese two calculations. Using the above method of accounting for the mar fluctuations in the price of metal will be found ecularly valuable when costs are collected on stand- nes of production, like ranges, stoves, heaters, The standard .cost may remain constant when sion is made for adjusting the metal cost, pro- » that the costs in the other departments remain nt i leetric Steel Castings Problems Discussed he Electric Steel Founders’ Research Group held nvention at East Aurora, N. Y., on April 13 and Representatives and executives, a total of 26, from five electric steel casting plants forming the group, { in a discussion of steel foundry problems. W. Worrilow, president Lebanon Steel Foundry, Leb Pa., presided. e first day’s program included the reading and ssion of a paper on “Electric Steel Castings for ilties” by W. J. Nugent, vice-president Electric el Co., Chicago.; and also a paper on “Properties Electric Steel Castings and Where They Should be " by T. S. Quinn, treasurer Lebanon Steel iry. The second day’s program was featured by iper on “Cost Accounting” by L. S. Peregoy, secre Sivyer Steel Casting Co., Milwaukee, and a papet salesmanship” by J. C. Redmond, Michigan Stee! ng Co., Detroit. \mong the representatives who made addresses was Messinger, vice-president Sivyer Steel Casting who ealled attention to the significance and bene btained from ‘cooperative efforts in conducting steel foundry research work. H. J. Koch, etary Fort Pitt Steel Casting Co., McKeesport, Pa., some interesting points on systematic production ng and analysis of customers’ requirements. R. Bull, research director of the group, spoke on the is phases of research work being undertaken by five group foundries to maintain and improve the ‘lity of their steel castings and decrease costs of iuction. W. J. Corbett, industrial engineer of the ip, spoke on the subject of new uses for electric astings, explaining that some users of metal parts not yet realized that steel castings having thin tions can be made by the electric process with con- rable reduction in weight and economy in ma- ng and assembling the castings. rhe convention was concluded with a banquet at oft Inn, at which E. J. MeCone, editor Buffalo mercial, made an address on the subject of “Ameri- zation of the Employer.” He offered the electric casting manufacturers some interesting points erning his efforts in conducting the open shop paign among newspaper publishers throughout the intry, The fifth of the six furnaces of the Steelton, Pa., tant of the Bethlehem Steel Co., one of the larger blast irnaces, will be placed in operation before the end April, officials of the plant have announced. THE IRON AGE 1169 Quad City Foundrymen Discuss Patterns At the April meeting of the Quad City Foundry- men’s Association held on the evening of April 16 at the Moline Chamber of Commerce, Moline, Ill., Herman Heidbreder, president Central Pattern Works, Quincy, [ll., delivered a brief address on the “Relation Between the Casting User and the Pattern Shop and Foundry,” and George P. Pearce, foundry engineer Union Mal- leable Iron Works, devoted 30 min. to the discussion of “High Production Patterns,” using lantern slides. A profitable discussion followed the presentation of these two papers. The principal point brought out was that the best results can be obtained by close cooperation, especially where the casting user buys his patterns in a jobbing pattern shop and then has his castings made in a com mercial foundry, though it is essential as well as fo manufacturing plants where all departments are under one roof. Both the speakers brought out the fact that, in production work, it is not always best to put all jobs on match plates. According to the discussion, the consensus of opinion seemed to be that in many cases patterns are being put on plates that might far better be gated To Discuss Foreign Commerce Foreign commerce will be discussed at the eleventh annual meeting of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States in New York. At the general session on May 8 Willis H. Booth, president of the Interna- tional Chamber of Commerce, will discuss “European Conditions and American Business,” and John H. Fahey, a director of the international chamber, will report upon the Rome meeting of the international chamber. On Wednesday afternoon, May 9, Mr. Booth will preside as chairman of the foreign commerce group session, at which the discussion will center about the problems and methods of exporting and importing in certain definite and prominent American commodity lines. The phenomenal rise of the automobile in our export trade as well as the importance of American manufactured articles in general in foreign markets will be presented by J. Walter Drake, chairman of the board, Hupp Motor Car Corporation, Detroit. Mining Engineers to Hold Fall Meeting in Canada The American Institute of Mining and Metallurgi cal Engineers has been invited to hold its fall meeting in Canada. The invitation has been issued by the Ministers of Mines of Ontario and Quebec, and by the Canadian Institute of Mining Engineers. The meeting will probably be held during the last two weeks in August. A special train will convey the party to some of the most important mines in the world, including the largest producers of nickel, one of the most pro- ductive gold mines, the most famous silver camp and the largest producer of asbestos. The round trip will occupy 10 to 12 days, and technical sessions, as well as sight seeing will be regular features of the program. The Detroit Foundrymen’s Association held its April meeting Thursday evening, April 19, in the De- troit Employers’ Association Rooms, Book Building. H. L. Campbell, assistant professor of Metallurgica] Engineering at the University of Michigan, gave the talk of the evening on “Foundry Mixtures.” Mr. Campbell is in technical charge of the foundry and forge shop at the University of Michigan but his ad- dress was entirely from the practical standpoint and received much favorable comment by the - attending members. The Ryan-Bohn Foundry Co., Lansing, Mich., which is operating under the receiver, J. W. Wilford, ap- pointed a couple of months ago, has increased its pro- duction from 70 to 125 tons of automotive castings per day. a’ 4! e . & = _ . “ , . , ‘ “ . . ” . s Routing Work m the Steel Foundry A System of Records Designed to Prevent Harmful Leaks —Orders Filled Completely and According to Promise BY LARRY J. BARTON* S business conditions better themselves, competi- A tion increases. This is particularly true of the steel foundry. New shops are resuming opera- tion daily; the standard of work is becoming higher, and it behooves every organization to look to the leaks —those little things which may mean success or fail- ure. Any shop can make good steel castings, but the one which can meet specifications at the lowest cost of production and give the best service is the one which will be the winner. One of the greatest sources of wasted time and actual financial loss today lies in a poor system routing work and checking production. How ofte, have you promised Mr. Blank 50 center plates for delivery on the first of the month, and when this dat comes around, find you have only 45? You check and, naturally some one is to blame. Quit does this help the good name of the shop? Not all, and soon Mr. Blank sends his patterns ganization which will keep its promises. New Orleans, La Or again, have you ever had an ord r 10 *Foundry superintendent, Dibert, Bancroft & Ross Co., Ltd., . . oe — ~ - special castings and, when you are read) Form No. STEEL FOUNDRY ORDER Order No. 2O 2 / pate A pril 5, 1925. Star Mfg Ce. Company : : May # Delivery Promised yy O Specification: A.S.7.M. A 27-/6 PIECES TO MAKE PATT. Ne. so? G52 Gear Blanks O a x at a 4 } Sty . Mus be he fr pa te a PATTERN ORDES Date es for: : NO. ‘yheit Drawine e From sample casting rom § Remarks: 2) A . B " Superintendemt Routing the Order from Its Start Through the Pattern, Molding and Core-Making Departments 1170 THE IRON AGE 1171 Electric Furnace Heat Sheet Heat No. 2 2 7 o © Heats from roof / & 7 Condition of roof Steel Made: c0.37 CHARGE Pig Iron Serap Cast Cast Borings Steel Steel Borings { Plate Scrap Shop Scrap Ferro Manganese Ferro Silicon — Aluminum E Total Current on 8:00 Meter after loso © 2 Meter before # OF S00 Total KwH.2 Se a Delays and Causes n one. How is condition of Furnace OK REMARKS “Time of pe Con ditions Of course you have, and you can figure, es, nearly enough loss from the mistake ince the entire order’s profit. yet another side—keeping track of defec- Do you, at all times, know what has » lost it, and why? If not, your organiza ecking up. Lost castings, over orders and ises have sent many a good shop to the for the pessimistic side. During the past has been the writer’s duty to organize s on a production basis. From this expe- stem has been evolved, which is extremely works to perfection. While it is true that re different for various localities, the writer OK : Lining —_ Kit Specification : c 3s /¢o Mn 6 o/7° Si 2 Ce P (.0Ff Mn 0. 6 9 Si 0-2 4 Current off Date _ Bre g 4 iq@2> Lining 187 : Bottom 2 aA? °o faimegeedn Bottom OF s COs GO0Fxr Rose aa ware St ! 7 S$ Lime * <a : - ‘ai ¥ Lime Stone Shells Floorspar 3 ; S25 OS | sana } © 75 Ground Coke : BS | tami 2 6.8 Sig iM Electrodes _ eo - ee © Ore a YY 656 Gi i ~~“ 9:3 c Total Time 3:3 oO Time: Ton KWH; Ton © ver 200 mM. geod June ~~ MELTER is offering his result in the hope that some may profit, even though it be but one shop. The routing of work naturally starts in the office where all orders are taken. There should be only one man, or his assistant, who has the authority to take orders, make prices, etc. This prevents anyone from making unofficial statements, avoids argument and centralizes this important operation. We will assume Mr. Brown,.the order clerk, has received an order from the Star Mfg. Co. for 100 gear blanks. He will make out form No. 1 as shown (Fig. . me * o a e a Sa hee - ~~ —_- ' Ds Se ete an en 2 oe . "os te se See Se rien a B wa «rin Se aademeiaeaieg ane ae te eee ns ore See 7 ' * % : - . 4 <4 . ° . * . 7 ,* . ~ ’ + 5 . . . ” - & 1172 THE IRON AGE April 26, iy23 1). This is in three colors; white for the original, 3. Tracer Order: Suppose along about pink for the duplicate and blue for the triplicate. He files the white copy and places the other two in his route basket. A boy picks these up at regular intervals and takes both copies to the foundry superintendent’s desk. These are both initialed by the superintendent. One is sent to the shipping clerk who places it on a file. The other is given to the foundry clerk. The foundry clerk then checks the patterns and core boxes. If there is no pattern, he reports back to the foundry superintendent who makes out a pattern order, form No. 2 (Fig. 2). This is made in duplicate; the original, white; the second sheet, pink. The white is filed in the office of the superintendent and the pink is sent to the pattern shop. When the pattern and core boxes are finished, the pattern maker’s time is jotted on the back of this order and returned to the superintendent, initialed and sent to the cost clerk. The foundry clerk then takes the patterns and core boxes, makes out two tags, one for the molders, which is blue, and one for the core maker, which is pink. These are tacked to patterns and placed on the “IN” shelf. The order, which the foundry clerk had, has now been placed on the foundry foremen’s desk. If he de- sires a certain molder to make the job, he will tell him. If not, the pattern is left on the shelf until some molder runs out of work; he will then start the job. He will put. his name on the card and fill out at the end of every day, as shown. As s60f as the complete 100 pieces have been molded, he turns his card in to the foreman. The pattern is then placed on the “OUT” shelf and is later returned to the pattern storage department. As all castings are poured and shaken out, they 20 to the cleaning room. The cleaning room foreman checks up what is coming, dates of delivery, etc., by the shipping clerk’s order. As the castings are cleaned, they are turned over to the shipping clerk and checked and prepared for shipment. This is the theoretical operation, but there are yet several other points to ‘onsider: 1. Specifications and Making the Steel: The metallurgist keeps tab on the superintendent’s file for the special work coming along. On this particular order he notes that “hard” castings are being called for; he takes the necessary step to keep in touch with the molders’ foreman to see that the proper steel is cast for this order. If he has a full heat of “hard” metal, all right; if not, he may have to pour part of the heat and re- earbonize enough left in the furnace to pour this job. He then follows this through the an- nealing process and, later, the heat treatment. A typical furnace sheet for a heat of this char- acter will look as shown in Fig. 5. 2. Defective or Short Order: This is made out by the cleaning room foreman and given to the molders’ foreman for every defective casting received, enabling the order to be filled at once. The molders’ foreman will keep a record of these, and each week can check up and find out why castings are being lost, and who is to blame. If he finds a certain molder is an habitual offender, he will do well to eliminate him. Troubles in gating, size and position of heads, condition of sand and many other points of trouble can be quickly remedied by a close check on these “wasters.” The actual result of this system in one shop was to cut down the losses from 8 per cent to under 1 per cent in less than one month. Should a casting be found defective on the mold- ing floor, due to a run out, etc., the molders’ fore- man must make out a slip so that an accurate record may be kept all around. 23 the Star Mfg. Co. rings up to learn ij can obtain part of their order at once. The clerk makes out a tracer order, as shown. goes first to the shipping clerk, who not. the back how many finished pieces he ha then goes to the cleaning room foreman notes work in course of cleaning, as do molders’ foreman. This slip then goes ba the order clerk, who can telephone the in as to the exact status of his order. There is yet another use for this blank. A a week before delivery is due, the shipping starts the tracer to see how the order js ing along. Information is quickly obtained pieces cast, those being finished, those in sand and yet to be molded. Many a tim molders’ foreman thinks an order is out, a: suddenly brought up by a tracer showing tw three short. This has saved many a prom 4. Foundry Clerk’s Daily Sheet: This form made out daily by the foundry clerk, show ing pieces cast in each order during the pieces needed to complete order, ete. is This system can be developed in a more complet manner, if desired, taking in annealing, heat treating, ete., so that an exact record of every piece cast ca) be kept, covering analysis of metal, method of molding annealing, physical tests, etc. This, however, not usually practiced, except on very special work sold on a guarantee, such as dredge buckets, sugar mil rolls, ete. While this system- entails some clerical work, it is my belief that this is more than paid for by the added efficiency and elimination of lost motion. When a “hard” customer rings up about an orde1 and, inside of 30 min., you ring him back telling him that, while your promise has yet five days to run, you already have 95 of his order cleaned, ready to ship and the other five will be ready by next morning, complet: satisfaction reigns and a duplicate order often follows The Right and Wrong Method of Checking Used Thermocouples A thorough discussion of the right and wrong methods of checking the thermocouples used in pyro metric work was presented before the April meet ing of the New York Chapter of the American Society for Steel Treating, Wednesday evening, April 18, ») C. H. Wilson, of the Wilson Maeulen Co., New York It was the consensus of opinion of several metallurgists present, who were able to pass judgment, that Mr. Wil son’s presentation of the subject really registered landmark in the discussion of the subject. The address having been more or less extemporaneous, he was ! quested to recast his speech in the form of a pap which could be made available for those interested. Briefly, the speaker confined himself to the discus sion of used pyrometers and went minutely into ti details of present methods of checking the thermo- couples after they had been used on a commercial sca" for some time. Pointing out the unreliability of muc! of the work as it is now done and discussing the condi- tion of the metal in the thermocouples and how it mus! differ from a new or fresh instrument, the author plained the theory on which such instruments worked and pointed out the various conditions which can 1™ pair their correctness. He was very emphatic in his condemnation of some of the quite generally preva! methods of checking used pyrometers which 1"\ the chilling point of various salts, such as sodlu! chloride, etc. He insisted that the only proper way © correct the used pyrometer was to check it with 4 standard pyrometer under the actual conditions which it is being used. The talk was illustrated >Y blackboard sketches and the discussion which followe® was animated and instructive. under A later. BY HENRY M. LANE* Sand and Molding for Automobile Castings Quantity Production at Plant of Wilson Foundry & Machine Co., Pontiac, Mich., Aided by Specially- Designed Machinery all castings have to start with the consideration f the raw material we will start with the sand end of this plant, and will consider the metal The sand storage building is 80 ft. wide and 0) ft. long, and has a sand storage capacity of 700 The cars come in on s& f molding and core sand. Oo! xing room occu- space 40 le by 80 ft. extending s the sand torage building. The crane which serves the sand storage also the tracks nd serves to sup- to the plant. and un- the in piles, and handles it from the stock piles to the heating plant. not only all sand into storage, but takes ll sand out of storage and sup- plies it to the mix- ing machines, or loads it into the p carts to be hauled to the fac- ing department, or to the foundry for listribution on the nd heaps. The two grades sand used tored on op- rosses fuel ting crane bucket all of piles it nea This grab loads Coal, tne StOCK It also nite puts Fig. 1 in and distributed into the various bins. rack adjacent to the end of the building, and the unloaded by the grab bucket on the crane, is The 1—Sand Mixing Machine with Floor Hopper sides of the core sand mixing unit, and the : sand is stored at the farther end of the build- and Originally the sand ner hown in Fig, 1, ‘ with a floor feed hopper. mixing machinery t consisted of two units, each essentially like This consists of a Standard & Machine Co. batch mixer, elevated, and ar- In the old arrange- sand was taken from the bins through doors retaining walls at the sides of the mixing ed into carts and dumped into the hopper. was made up in the hopper and then delivered xing machine by the bucket elevator shown. then added from a little tank at the end of r beyond the conveyor, the measured amount water of this reed in, being distributed through*a spray ‘ed in by compressed air. a measured in the mix g the top of the mixer. Where amount is 1 experiments have been made to determine r mixing time for each batch and the machine engineer, Mr ‘r portions have i page 1037. Detroit. been April 12. This Lane before the National Founders Asso- is a published portion at page of a 745, 1173 operator has a clock which enables him to determine the time before the discharge gate is opened. The material then drawn out into delivery carts as shown under the machine in Fig. 1. The mixed sand is delivered to the core makers’ benches. The more 1S recent installation of equipment is shown in Fig. 2. In this case the mixer formerly used in connection with a unit like that shown in Fig. 1 was surmounted by a double hopper bin. Each end of this bin contains a different grade of sand and under each bin there is a measuring gate that will contain a certain cubic con- tent of sand. An air cylinder serves to operate this gate and delivers into the mixer a measured amount of sand. The batches are made up with the con- tent of this gate as a unit, and for certain mixes _ it may be necessary to move each gate five times, which would give as the total mix ten times the amount delivered at one stroke, or any oth- er ratio between the two ingredi- ents which may be worked out. The oil and wa- ter are forced in under compressed air by displace- ment, as already mentioned, the spray pipe being along the back of the mixer at the top. Sand coming from the discharge gate of the mixer falls directly into the carts, and is taken to the core room as already described. The arrangement of hoppers over the sand mixing machines, the delivery of sand into these hoppers with the grab bucket, and the feeding of the mixing ma- chine by the pneumatically controlled gates has reduced the expense of mixing sand about 50 per cent, when compared with the old method of floor hoppers, which necessitated shoveling the sand into the carts and its subsequent dumping into the hopper. While on the subject of sand it may be well to say something about the mixing of facing sand for the foundry. Facing sand consists of a certain portion of old sand and a certain portion of new sand, and the sea coal and other ingredients required. The new sand from the sand bins is brought in in dump cars by means of a tractor, the dump cars having been filled by the grab bucket in the bins, and the new sand is dumped on the floor as shown at the right of Fig. 3. At the left will be seen a battery of three 6-ft. Simpson mixers with loading devices. The first two loading devices are down in the filling position and the 1174 THE IRON one in the background is raised to discharge its load nto the mill. 7 A measured amount of old sand is dumped into the hopper and this is followed by a measured amount of new sand, then the sea coal and other ingredients for the mix. The loader is then elevated, whereupon the contents are dumped into the mill and the mixing is continued by clock for a predetermined time. Then the discharge side of the mill is opened, which discharges the sand onto a belt conveyor back of the mills, the end of which can be seen at the extreme left of the pic- ture. This belt conveyor arries the sand toward the right to a point where t is taken on by a bucket elevator and discharged nm to a drag conveyor run- ning over the bins, at the extreme right. The fac- ng sand is drawn from these bins into carts and wheeled to the floor re- juiring® it. The wetting necessary for the facing sand is add- ed in the mill, and great care is taken to see that the proper amount of wa- ter is used in the tem- pering. All of the fea- tures entering into the mixing of both core sand and facing sand and all of the binders and other in- gredients are under lab- oratory control and super- vision. This makes it possible to get uniform results. We now proceed to the foundry and to the molding of Model 4 Overland cylinders. This particular job Fig. 2—Sand Mixing Machine Surmounted by Hopper with Measuring Gates AGE April 26. j 92" lationship between the crane and the machi: This really consists of two crane frames joined by suitable steel work, and supporting two uw: pneumatic cranes carrying air hoists. Th se travel of the air hoist is parallel with the the Beardsley-Piper machine or, in other w W the length of the floor. This machine has ramming positions for ne and drag portior f th mold. The fla are placed in _ posit and rammed successiv: One of the air hoi ther picks up the finished por tion of the moid, and sets it on the floor, as show in greater detail in Fig. which is taken from th opposite side of the ma chine. In this view it wil] be noticed that the tw special molding machines or pattern drawing de vices, which the Beards ley-Piper serves are mounted on ro an dragged along with The drags are set dow on the floor in a row, ar on the row of mold already set are plac wooden platforms, shown. Each one of thes wooden platforms is firs‘ loaded with a complet set of cores to core th mold in front of it. Th coring gang then pro ceeds along the row of drags, assembling the cores in the molds, and testing each stage in the assembly with suitable jigs. In the left foreground can be seen a mold which has just had _ is being molded on a Beardsley-Piper sand slinger ma- chine, a general view of the floor being shown in Fig. 4. The machine advances into the sand heap, picking up the sand, riddling it, and delivering it into the mold. Particular attention is called to the special traveling crane arrangement following the Beardsley-Piper machine, and attached to the machine by a lead chain, so as to maintain a t const ant re- sand Mixing Department —s the cope placed in position, and the runner box up, the runner box pattern being seen bel runner box. The next three molds to the ri ' completely cored ready for copes. While t® gang is working toward the right, the flasks °" down in rows of ten each, back to back, 4 with casting aisles left across the floor betwe two rows and the next two. In this position Pp S HP bel) i i 5 aie THE IRON AGE 1175 ~~ _—_e.r Yo a lisieeediidieats iad ati 4 - 4 = | «a : . orth) Net daab - mL I Ly | ie ee | le | Fig. 5-—Detailed View of Coring Arrangement for Model { Overland Cylinders ne with another crane and bull ladle. tion with the Beardsley-Piper machine, ram up, core, and get ready for pouring in 9 hr., and the machine handles 3500 and per day, or about 161 tons. 'verland Model 4 piston is an all-green-sand rigging for accomplishing this is shown \t the left is shown a specially rigged ng machine with a special core box rig- connection with which the bosses in the be withdrawn or stripped out over the the flasks are drawn down away from the e two completed drags are shown at the machine makes two drags at a time, and four pistons. ght is shown a small stripping plate for making the copes, and in the center shown one of the copes. This group of machines makes very rapid progress in producing this type of piston. The use of green-sand piston cores takes a big burden off the core-room, and the absence of dry sand cores gives a longer life to the sand heap. The accuracy of these methods of molding can be judged by the fact that all finished pistons are kept within a total limit of 1 ounce in weight. One feature which will be of’ interest, even though it is outside of the foundry work proper, is the treat ment of the Willys-Knight ‘sleeves. As has: already been stated, the greatest care has been exercised in the molding and metallurgy of the sleeves. They are then rough turned, and subsequently passed through an annealing oven, a view of which is shown in Fig. 7, with a carload of sleeves in the doorway. This annealing oven .really has two functions to perform: In the first half of it, castings are brought up to a’ temperature of 800 deg. Fahr., and in the Fig. 4—General View of Beardsley-Piper Sand Slinger Molding Machine on Model 4 Overland Cylinders a ~ weveliontaia: it —— ee ohana -anmegiaas ovenqe~~y-ceaenneinntie tan emmmtinamiitaitasiaannal : - ~ anirn ntasammpemptevedientapss caapncamanttie titanate teachin —* . at” * - oad * _ . 5 ees ; : > = Mae epapaner age paca iy eee NLT SRE ERS HT RE Eng ae «pte i ° 7 1176 THE IRON AGE April 26, 1998 Fig. 6—Rig for Making Green Sand Mold for Model 4 Overland Pistons second half they are cooled to such a temperature that they can be handled comfortably when they come from the oven, and they then pass directly into the machine line-up for finishing. The oven is a con- tinuous affair, being loaded at one end and discharged at the other. This low temperature anneal has the effect of aging the castings, which relieves strains and results in a more perfect finished product. The aluminum castings necessary are also turned out in this plant. The principal cores for these molds are made in green sand entirely. As all of the prac- tice in this division of the foundry follows the same accuracy in regard to machine work that is practiced in the iron foundry, it is unnecessary to multiply the pictures and descriptions of equipment. All aluminum pistons are made with green-sand cores, following the general practice already outlined for gray iron. Coke Prices Established for France WASHINGTON, April 24.—a definite schedule of prices for coke to extend through May has been established in the French iron and steel industry and as a result the sliding scale of prices of iron and steel, according to the price of coke at the time of delivery, is disappearing, according to a cablegram received by the Department of Commerce from Commercial Fig. 7 Continuous Car Type Annealing Oven for Willys-Knight Sleeves Attaché Chester Lloyd Jones, Paris. The effect has been to stabilize the market. The schedule was set by the Société des Consommateurs de Cokes de Hauts Fourneaux. It is stated that 20 per cent of the coke requirements will be supplied to blast furnaces at 198 fr. per ton, while remaining n