Patriot Foundry & Castings LLC, West Franklin, N.H., has added a new sand casting system and is in the process of installing a new induction furnace and upgrading its dust collection equipment.
According to Chris Leuteritz, Patriot’s owner and manager, the additions are the latest in an improvement process the company began in late 2009.
“We were definitely down from 2008,” Leuteritz said. “We were in some industries that were completely dead, so we were scrambling for anything we could find. As we started doing these improvements, the customer base really responded.”
Prior to the equipment additions, which Patriot began last September, the company joined the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings, Better Plants program and began working toward ISO certification. The goal of the DOE program is to decrease energy utilization by 25% in 10 years. Leuteritz expects to reach that goal when the new furnace is installed in March.
According to Leuteritz, the new overhead sand casting system has improved productivity, working conditions and casting quality. The induction furnace will replace two propane-fired units and increase overall melting capacity by 25%. Patriot recently achieved its goal of gaining ISO certification, which Leuteritz said will help retain existing business and open the door to new customers.
“We had a number of customers that said if we didn’t become ISO-certified, they would have to go elsewhere,” Leuteritz said. “There are a lot of companies out there that won’t take your phone calls without ISO.”
