“We have been really happy with the work Dr Paul Lansdell and others at WMG have done for us which led us to explore other areas to collaborate including internships, apprenticeships and some joint activity on Net Zero solutions.”

Anthony Evans, Managing Director, Sarginsons Industries Ltd

Challenge 

Based in Coventry, SarginsonsLink opens in a new window are a metal castings foundry that specialise in high integrity castings as well as CNC machining, metallurgic and heat treatment expertise. They have high-profile clients and work with partners in the automotive, aviation and oil and gas sectors to offer exceptional lightweight components. They have strong working relationships with a number of universities and research centres and their approach to collaborative work led them to contact WMG to discuss some of their ideas.

The company identified a number of key objectives for the next few years and approached WMG for help in prioritising them and linking them up with the right expertise and support. With an ongoing mission to improve and create USPs in the business, for the first project they wanted to discover if creating a cooling channel insert in one of their die casting processes could improve the integrity, quality, and performance of the parts. When creating complex tooling with this process, there can often be issues and parts can end up cracking due to the high temperatures involved.

Solution

Using Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling, WMG were able to simulate a variety of cooling scenarios to identify what process would be feasible and if the insert could be developed using Additive Manufacturing. Now a series of tests are underway to find out which materials are best suited to 3D print tooling for the business.

“3D printing complex tooling will be a game changer for us, minimising the level of costs we currently outlay on tools for casting. Once we decide on the best materials and ALM process, we expect the results to be transformational."

Rick Davies Engineering Director, SarginsonsLink opens in a new window

Impact

• This initial work led to other strategic project opportunities as well as a collaborative funding bid worth £50k. The expected impact is a significant reduction in energy and excess material with associated reduction in their carbon emissions

• Having identified that 47% of sand is wasted and never used before it is disposed of in the diecast process, a subsequent WMG Net Zero roadmap has identified how Sarginsons can tackle waste reducing it to just 2%

What happened next?

Sarginsons were keen to keep working with WMG and took on an intern to help support with their processes and production activities. The intern who now works with Sarginsons full time, tested different compositions of metals which will ultimately help Sarginsons to develop lighter and stronger products and increase quality in the organisation. Sarginsons and WMG are also joining forces as part of Coventry City’s Climate Change Board where both Anthony Evans and WMG’s chair Margot James have seats. WMG's Dr Russell Hall and Felix Martin also undertook an investigation into how Sarginsons can recover heat from their hugely intensive casting and forging work to power other functions in the business.Link opens in a new window

“We have already implemented a number of quick wins to decarbonise the business including joining WMG's Net Zero NetworkLink opens in a new window which was initiated by our client Polestar. Our collaborative work is an important aspect of us achieving our Net Zero goals”

Anthony Evans, Managing Director, SarginsonsLink opens in a new window

 “Assisting Sarginsons on their journey of continuous improvement so far has been a real pleasure. Our role is to support companies to increase their OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) and we are excited to see the results of the use of additive manufacturing for tooling as well as how a change in the composition of their raw materials could boost quality. It is great that the company are involved with WMG now on a number of levels which will benefit us both strategically in the long run”

Dr Paul Lansdell, Innovation Manager, WMGLink opens in a new window

To read the full WMG Insights piece on industrial waste heat recovery with Sarginsons- click here

To read the Q&A with Sarginsons's intern Arezoo Firouzeh - click here

For more information about how you can work with WMG's SME group - click here