Wadeville, Germiston, is home to the local manufacture of cast brake drums and ventilated disks using the casting processes. To satisfy the stringent acceptance criteria of the major motor manufacturers, the plant recently installed an Adroit supervisory control and data acquisition (scada) system to achieve a fully automated, continuous moulding and sand recycling plant, free of human interference and with full, online record keeping.
Moulding sand
Moulding sand is the key component in quality casting moulds. Good quality moulding sand ensures good quality castings and the site utilises 35 tons of this per hour in the manufacture of car components for all the major motoring brands.
After a casting mould has been used, the useful properties of the moulding sand are lost due to ingredient losses that occur when the hot liquid metals are poured into the mould. During the recycling process, moisture and other ingredients are replenished. The Adroit scada was implemented to precisely control the parameters of the sand on a continuous basis. Foremost among these is the measurement of water content. Water content is kept up to 0,2%.
Recycling the moulding sand
Sand is recycled in a five-day-a-week continuous batch operation. Parameters are entered through the Adroit system and implemented by the foundry machinery, a Compactibility Controller and Bond Determinator (CCBD) then feeds data back to the Adroit. This complex mini-lab (imported from USA) automatically draws samples of the sand and performs a battery of tests on the medium in less than one minute. Each batch is separately numbered for reference purposes.
One of the parameters measured by the CCBD is the bond, which is the term used to describe the binding properties of moulding sand, the ingredient added to recover these properties is a fine clay called Pentenite, that, when combined with water, gives the moulding sand its mechanical strength.
The role of the scada
The CCBD is linked to the scada for online monitoring purposes and to ensure access to the parameters. Adroit Technologies helped set up the communication using Adroit's Ethernet communication features. The plant makes extensive use of the Adroit trending functionality to provide an online reference for plant operators as to the process temperatures, moisture levels and sand water content, and the sand's strength as tested by the CCBD.
Batch reports are printed continuously, while data drawn from a Microsoft Access database provides daily reports on the plant operations and batch statistics - which is then further analysed using Opus reporting software. The scada's onscreen and audible alarming provides notification to operators in case the sand's parameters stray over their limits - or in instances when any plant equipment malfunctions, and the times that these events occur.
The project began in April 2004 and was completed in August.
71% of organisations suffered an identity breach
News & Events Information Security
The State of Identity Security 2026 report from Sophos finds human error and poor non-human identity management are the root causes of most attacks, as agentic AI accelerates the risk.
Read more...Cyber resilience is the real defence
Security Services & Risk Management Information Security Infrastructure
Cyber resilience has evolved into a form of strategic agility, ensuring that when an interruption occurs, the business does not just survive; it snaps back into place before the market even notices a pause.
Read more...Employees are SA’s biggest cyber threat
Security Services & Risk Management Information Security
South Africa experienced a 46% increase in insider cyber risk in 2026, surpassing the global average of 44%. What is more, 63% of South African companies surveyed expect insider-driven data losses to increase.
Read more...Surge in AI-enabled cybercrime and a 389% increase in ransomware
News & Events Information Security
Cybercrime no longer functions as a series of isolated campaigns; it operates as a system, with malicious hackers operating across an end-to-end life cycle and compressing the attack life cycle with shadow agents.
Read more...When SCADA meets the cloud Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
SCADA/HMI
Engineers are faced with the challenge of unifying legacy SCADA systems with modern, IoT-based data platforms. The trouble is, when hardware from multiple manufacturers and generations are all used in the same system, compatibility becomes an issue
Read more...Claude Mythos wake-up call Technews Publishing
AI & Data Analytics Information Security
AI has crossed a critical cybersecurity threshold and frontier models are accelerating attack lifecycles and will enable attackers to identify and exploit vulnerabilities at scale and speed, through novel methods that were previously the domain of advanced nation-state entities.
Read more...If you cannot prove identity, you cannot claim security
Access Control & Identity Management Information Security
Cybersecurity planning for 2026 is a structural change in how attacks are executed and how trust is exploited, demanding that companies stop layering tools on top of infrastructure and instead prioritise intelligence and identity.
Read more...Adroit Technologies drives global SCADA for Iochpe-Maxion Adroit Technologies
PLCs, DCSs & Controllers
Adroit Technologies has been appointed by Iochpe-Maxion, parent company of one of the world’s largest wheel manufacturers and producers of structural components in the Americas, as its global SCADA partner. The partnership will standardise operational visibility, reliability and control across 34 manufacturing facilities worldwide.
Read more...NEC XON secures mobile provider’s hybrid identities NEC XON
Access Control & Identity Management Information Security Commercial (Industry)
For a leading South African telecommunications operator, identity protection has become a strategic priority as identity-centric attacks proliferate across the industry. The company faced mounting pressure to secure both human and non-human identities across complex hybrid environments.
While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.
printer friendly version