Foundry components - additional know-how from Leroy-Somer
For more than fifty years the Leroy-Somer foundry has been designing and producing grey and spheroidal graphite cast-iron components in short, medium and long production runs. A pillar of the engine manufacturer’s industrial organisation, the unit also provides a multi-sector response to the most demanding technical briefs for the design, engineering or manufacturing of foundry components.
From its earliest days, Leroy-Somer has pursued a vertical integration policy focused on the mastery of the fundamental technologies constituting its core business. Based on this principle of industrial autonomy, the Foundry site emerged in 1967. Ultramodern for its time, this site accommodates large-scale industrial facilities that are constantly evolving to guarantee its ongoing development.
Specialising in flake graphite grey cast iron and spheroidal graphite cast iron, the Leroy-Somer Foundry today boasts a production capacity of 19,000 tonnes and more than 1000 item references per year. Its know-how and trade expertise allow it to propose a wide range of raw and/or machined parts from 0.5 to 250 kg, used in a variety of applications and industries: pump bodies, street furniture, agricultural and textile machinery, electric motors, compressors, equipment for the construction, rail, automotive industries, etc.
The versatility and adaptability of the Leroy-Somer Foundry revolve around the following strengths:
A tried-and-tested collaborative process, run by multi-disciplinary teams supported by trade specialists, placing their skills and experience at the service of the most stringent customer demands, from study through to production.
Design closely aligned to needs, generated by a dedicated engineering office offering reactivity and advice, with close attention paid to ensuring the best cost of development for products and tools. The design of components is optimised through the use of high-performance software capable, for example, of numerical casting simulations to detect possible defects before a tool is manufactured. 3D-printing solutions also allow prototypes to be produced for creating made-to-measure products.
Foundry processes validated and managed at each stage of manufacturing, particularly for the fusion, core making, moulding, shot blasting and deburring operations.
Means of production guaranteeing the quality and reliability of the processes: the Leroy-Somer Foundry has a machine pool enabling top-performance production for short, medium and long production runs. Efficiency, flexibility and rapidity are guaranteed thanks to high-capacity equipment offering high production rates: 16 t low-frequency electric furnaces, high-pressure vertical or horizontal molding lines, depending on the size of the components, automated cells, etc.
Renowned worldwide for the quality of its alternators and drive systems (electric motors, geared motors and speed drives), Leroy-Somer have been a benchmark player in electrical engineering for almost a century. With this additional foundry expertise, Leroy-Somer can offer fresh perspectives for development by means of products designed to meet the needs of its customers.
“The know-how and expertise of the Leroy-Somer Foundry are recognised by all its customers,” declares Fabrice Bergé, Site Director. "We consider that one of our essential roles is to advise our customers from the pre-engineering phase in order to optimise the design of the new components that are to be produced, and to this end we strive to engage in dialogue with them by every means possible.
"Furthermore, integration of digital technologies is enabling us to make progress in the management of our processes and the optimisation of costs, so that we can reach out to new sectors, such as robotics.
“Forever attentive to providing optimum customer satisfaction, the Leroy-Somer Foundry is also keen to respect all its commitments, particularly in terms of quality and punctuality, while proposing competitive prices,” concludes Fabrice Bergé.
About Nidec
Nidec was established in Kyoto, Japan in 1973 by its Chairman, President and CEO Shigenobu Nagamori. In 1979, Nidec became the first company in the world to successfully commercialize a direct drive spindle motor for HDDs based on a brushless DC motor. Since then, the Company has grown into a world-leading comprehensive motor manufacturer encompassing approximately 300 subsidiaries employing 110,000 people throughout the world and with annual sales exceeding 1 trillion JPY. Nidec’s motors, drives, generators and related products are found in a diverse range of applications including computers, smartphones, home appliances, automobiles, manufacturing plants, robots and more.
About Leroy-Somer:
Leroy-Somer is one of the world’s leading manufacturers in electromechanical and electronic drive systems (electric motors, geared motors, variable speed drives) and the world leader in industrial alternators. Part of the Nidec group since February 1, 2017, the company employs 8000 people in 28 production units and 470 sales and service outlets worldwide.
