Mercury Marine last week announced that it received the American Foundry Society’s 2023 Plant Engineering Award for achievements in planning, installation, operation, and maintenance and automation of foundry equipment.
Mercury said in a statement that the “implementation and use of Industry 4.0 data collection technology has revolutionized the collection and use of data throughout Mercury’s aluminum foundry.”
A ‘Connected Ops’ team connects manufacturing equipment with a universal data connection platform, including equipment for melting, die casting, lost foam and finishing. Once the data is collected, it is put into “electronic dashboards” and displayed throughout the plants’ manufacturing spaces.
“The term Industry 4.0 was coined in 2011,” David Blondheim, Mercury Marine director of global operations excellence and advanced manufacturing, said in the statement. “More than a decade later, implementation into foundry environments is limited in practice. Throughout the past six years, Mercury has taken a systematic approach at digitizing operations through the connection, collection and analysis of manufacturing data.”
According to Mercury, it has invested more than $2 billion in research and development, and the expansion of its Fon du Lac, Wis., campus, including engineering and manufacturing facilities.
