News – The Institute of Indian Foundrymen

August 2023	A new book “Green Sand Principles and Practice” authored by Mr. K. P. Surampalli was published The book provides detailed information on all the aspects of the Green Sand moulding process. It explains about the main ingredients namely sand, bentonite, water and carbonaceous material and their relation with each other. The information on thermal degradation of green sand, journey of return sand and regeneration of green sand from return sand provide in depth knowledge and practical tips. The discussion on three major factors viz. raw material quality, return & green sand quality control and quality mould making along with extensive explanation on different types of defects with the rationale and remedies provided are sure to satisfy the foundrymen.
August 2022	A new book “Management for Success” authored by Mr Vishwas Kale was published. The book is a bouquet of articles wherein the names of topics are heard but the definite meaning is unaware of to many. For the benefit of entrepreneurs, the author has elaborated on topics as varied as CQI 27, Industry 4.0, to Artificial Intelligence to SMEs – hurdles, business resilience. All of them lead to the dream of Growing Big.
Apr.2022	Two new books were published during IFEX 2022. 1. “Practical Guide for Progressive Foundrymen” (Authored by Mr. Sham Sundar) This book offers Upcoming Foundry Operational leaders a systematic compilation of effects of Foundry variables in process parameters, their effects on rejections, along with important details of all operational departments of progressive Foundries. The book also gives Mould schemes of intricate automotive castings like cylinder block and cylinder head and fascinating explanation of the intricacies involved to get reliable high quality castings day-in and day-out. 2. “Instrumentation and Process Control Techniques in Foundry” (Authored by Mr. Vishwas Kale) This is a unique reference material for all practicing Foundrymen to understand the Science and Technology and the Best practices for proper utilization of various Instruments and Testing Equipment.
July 2021	All technical CDs and DVDs were converted in the form of Pen drives.
April 2021	Corona Pandemic – With a view to be connected with foundrymen, NCTS started online lectures. Director NCTS conducted three online lectures in the month of April 20 on TPM. 25 lectures aimed at technical subjects related to ferrous and nonferrous foundry industry, were conducted during the year.
Oct. 2020	NCTS was registered as seller on Amazon and all its products (books and DVDs) are available online
June 2020	Mr. Shashi Bhushan Singh (Ex- Director, DRDO, specialist R & D Management ) joined the NCTS Panel of Experts.
March 2020	New Revised Edition of the book, “High Manganese Steel Casting Technology” The revised edition includes additional information on Foundry Practice by Dr N P Sinha
March 2020	New book, “Manual for Foundry Maintenance”, was released during IFEX 2020. The book is authored by Mr S S Bhasin and Mr. U Y Shinde. The manual text discuss about why, when and how the maintenance activity is to be carried out and troubleshooting and typical maintenance schedules.
JUNE 2018	IIF-NCTS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2018 Date: Friday, April 27, 2018 Time: 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm Venue: PYC Hindu Gymkhana, Pune Theme: Managing Sustainable Market-Responsive Growth in Foundries Read more…
APRIL 2017	New DVD 119 “Instrumentation in Foundries” is released in April 2017. The DVD will make foundrymen aware of instrumentation techniques and its importance. The content in DVD is well explained by Mr. Vishwas Kale, MD, Vijayesh Instruments Pvt. Ltd, Pune and coordinated by Mr. Anil Agashe, Ex Director IIF NCTS. This DVD gives Foundrymen Comprehensive information about Instrumentation used in casting making processes and other allied processes.
JUNE 2016	New interactive DVD 118 on “Refractory Coatings for Ferrous & Non Ferrous Applications” was released in July 2016. The matter in DVD is very well elaborated by a team consist of Mr. Archis Patankar (Manager Business Development for Ferrous refractory business, Foseco India Ltd), Mr. Shrikant Bhat (Solution Manager for Non Ferrous refractory business, Foseco India Ltd) and coordinated by Mr. Madhav Athawale (Ex- Foseco India Ltd-Product head for Coatings, Filters, Inoculants etc.)The DVD will help the reader understand Theory & Practice of “Refractory Coatings” used in the Foundries. The DVD is elaborating a) Need for using coatings. b) How to select a coating and c) Application of coatings & process control required to ensure its effectiveness.
19th JAN.2016	Kind Attention NCTS launches “Standard Layout and Process Flow Chart” for Upgradation of foundries particularly Micro and Small Iron Foundries producing 50 to 100 tons per month. The 1st contract was bagged from M/s. AVR foundry Batala and Upgradation program has commenced. NCTS also proposes to help technical Upgradation of all sizes of foundries through its Panel of Experts.NCTS would like to receive inquiries for Upgradation.NCTS launches new DVD 117 Titled “No Bake Technology for Castings – Binder Systems and Molding Equipment” during 64th IFC Coimbatore. Overwhelming response was received for this interactive DVD.
25th OCT.2015	Mr. S. Kuppusamy joins the Panel of Experts “Mr. S. Kuppusamy joined the Panel of Experts in Oct.15. He is currently Vice President of a reputed foundry in Coimbatore. He brings with him hands-on experience of over three decades in Iron founding.”
29th JULY 2015	Kind Attention : Aluminium Die Casters The NCTS announce with pleaser the release of DVD 114 on Aluminium HighPressure Die Casting. About DVD :- “Aluminium High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) is a technique which canconsistently meet the stringent quality and huge demand of Aluminiumcastings desired by the auto industry. Therefore a capsuled technicalinformation has been brought out in this DVD 114 titled “Aluminium HighPressure Die Casting”. The DVD elaborates on all aspects of HPDC such asDie Design; Machine selection; melting and metallurgy of Aluminium alloys involved; control regime required for sustained casting quality; defects and remedies and so on. The DVD is a result of compilation of technical information by Mr. DilipPanjikar who has spent his entire career in the field of HPDC. This DVD therefore will be an excellent tool in the hands of a practising Diecaster. “ The DVD is available on NCTS office. Please Book your order.
9th JULY 2015	7Epsilon for ISO9001 : 2015 courses The next series of 7Epsilon courses will be held in Chandigarh at PECUniversity of Technology on 23rd July 2015 and Coimbatore’s IIFchapter office on 4th August 2015. NCTS has been proactively involved in facilitating 7Epsilon roadshows and courses since 2012. This year IIF’s Foundry Informatics Centre at New Delhi, Quality Council of India and local chapters of CII and IIF are supporting this course. The course has received excellent feedback from fellow foundrymen in USA and Europe. If you have ‘unexplained’ and ‘undesired’ quality variation in your production batches or want to know more about the risk based thinking and organisational knowledge management requirements of ISO9001:2015 then this course is for you. The course is given by 7Epsilon co-ordinators Drs Rajesh and Meghana Ransing. For further information on this course visit the 7Epsilon website (http://www.7epsilon.org/7E-course-contents.html) or contact NCTS-IIF office.
23rd APR.2015	NCTS launched a new DVD 116 titled “Green Sand Moulding Technology – Emphasis on Sand Control” in March 2015 on the occasion of the Indian Foundry Congress at Greater Noida. It is an established fact that a modern moulding system alone cannot ensure good castings. The quality of sand – both in properties and consistency, plays a very significant part for making good quality castings on a consistent basis. The technical content of the DVD pays elaborate attention to properties and their upper and lower limits to obtain sustainable control on the moulding sand system to achieve consistent mould quality to ensure desired casting results. The DVD covers all forms of moulding – from hand moulding, conventional machine moulding to high pressure moulding – both vertical and horizontal and also flask less moulding. The DVD stipulates control parameters for all Green Sand Properties for all moulding processes mentioned above. The DVD offers recommendations on selection of various raw materials used in green sand practice. The DVD also describes various casting defects arising from improper sand quality and also suggests remedial measures against all such defects. All in all, this entire DVD will be very useful to all foundrymen practising green sand moulding. It will not only give important practical tips but will also offer a theoretical technical insight to Green Sand Moulding Technology.
20th Oct.2014	NCTS bags first C / I /T assignment !! C I T implies Conceive an action plan after studying a given problem; Implement corrective actions on the shop floor of the customer and Transfer the process details to the customer. NCTS has always tried to be in the forefront in finding lasting solutions to technical problems faced by practicing foundrymen. Initiative C I T was launched with same purpose in mind. Iron Casting Division of ISGEC Heavy Engineering Ltd.; Yamunanagar have engaged NCTS to reduce rejection in Cylinder Castings made for Compressors. Under the terms of reference following is involved: a) NCTS expert to visit ISGEC on fact finding mission (this took place on 29th and 30th Sept14); b) Collected data to be analysed at Pune by NCTS team (three more experts apart from the visiting expert are currently on this task) and Corrective action plan to be sent to ISGEC by end Oct. 2014; c)Production of samples as per corrective action plan to be witnessed by our expert in second week of Nov.14. In another first, NCTS has successfully negotiated a contract to prepare a lay out for a 100TPM chilled cam shaft foundry. NCTS demonstrates that it has resources to locate expertise in very specialised foundry areas too. Formal agreement is expected to be signed in Nov.14. NCTS Experts’ Panel got enriched in October with the inclusion of Mr Madhav Athavale who was associated with Foseco India in various capacities over past four decades. He brings with him a great insight in use of various products for application in foundries. His vast hands-on experience in development and application of new products will be of immense benefit to the foundry fraternity.
19th Sep.2014	New Interactive DVD ‘ Inoculation of Cast Irons – Science and Practices’ was released on 19th Sept. 14 during the Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Indian Foundrymen.The DVD covers theoretical aspects of Nucleation; Growth and Solidification of Irons. The matter is explained very effectively and precisely by Mr S Subramanian – a Metallurgist with over 35 years of hands on experience in Iron Founding. The practical aspects of Inoculation – selection of the type and quantity of material; methods of addition;evaluation of effectiveness of inoculation and precautions required to ensure most efficient results, have been covered by another Senior Foundryman Mr Anil Agashe. This DVD will be very useful to practicing foundrymen as it takes away the mystique from the process and provides down to earth tips to derive maximum benefits from Inoculation.
17th July 2014	Initiative “ TRIPLE A” or TECHNICAL AUDIT This is the latest from NCTS – launched in June 2014. Triple A stands for Assess – Analyse – Advise and by combination of these activities necessary inputs are provided to the foundry for enhancing levels of performance all around. During the Audit a thorough and dispassionate study of all Technical Inputs – equipment; process control etc. will bemade by very experienced expert from NCTS Panel of Experts; it will be thenscrutinised by others from the Panel; views from all will be debated and final report prepared. Modus operandi for various activities like data collection for instance, is available in the attachment. Click here to view the attachment.
1st Nov.2013	NCTS holds Panel meeting on 23rd October 2013. During the well-attended meet a thorough review of current projects was carried on plenty of suggestions were received. In order to undertake projects which are relevant to practicing foundrymen every panel member expressed his views on the subject. On the whole, the deliberations were very positive and will lead to interesting new projects for the next 12 months.
25th Oct. 2013	NCTS has launched two new programs – (a) Technical Audit in which Expert from NCTS will undertake detailed study of Technical Capability of Foundry – both in Quantitative and Qualitative matters and help the concerned foundry to achieve its desired goals. (b) Study a given problem and Conceive corrective action plan based on collective experience of NCTS Panel of Experts. Depute a representative to the foundry and implement corrective action on the shop floor and show satisfactory results. After ascertaining consistent sustainability, transfer the methodology to the foundry. This way the solution evolved would be very stable.
3rd Oct.2013	Corporate Skills Enhancement Programs have been hugely successful. Prestigious clients include Madras Enginneering, Chennai; Neosym Industries, Pune and M&M Swaraj Foundry,Mohali,Punjab.
23rd Sept.2013	A new DVD titled “Analysis of Defects in Aluminium Castings – a Compendium of Case Studies” was released on 22nd Sept 2013. It provides practical insight to effective defect solving.
1st Sept.2013	NCTS has revamped the Website in tune with modern times and has all the information updated till September 2013. On-line ordering of NCTS products has never been so smooth!

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