One year to the day since the ground-breaking ceremony, the first overseas production base for the Japanese KIMURA Group, was officially opened on 7th November in Indiana, USA.
The Shelbyville facility, Kimura Foundry America, is a sophisticated casting plant that will manufacture high-quality and prompt delivery prototype castings produced by sand moulding using 3D printers.
The KIMURA group has been working with the full mold casting process (FMCP) for more than half a century and generated a new process – the direct molding process (DMP) – in Japan in 2013. It incorporates the IT technology pursued by the FMCP and has subsequently been evolving. As a result, it has had a significant impact on the casting industry.
Representative of KIMURA Group, Kazutoshi Kimura, said: “In addition to the high quality, we have made it possible to deliver with super rapid speed of five days by our own engineering technology. This short time supply is particularly effective for manufacturing industries, especially with prototype divisions and has been focused on from all over the world. Consequently, what we recognise as the strategic concept of KFA could be: ‘speed × quality = value’ and we are now standing at the line to embark on activities.
“We have been supplying castings from Japan so far, but now are ready to complete the sophisticated facilities in Shelbyville, Indiana, where it is absolutely the crossroads in the US, so I am convinced that the facilities will be useful and effective for many clients and various industries with our support. I have pleasure to pursue infinite dreams by merging IT (information technology) with another IT (iron tactics) that is our responsibility.”
Kimura Foundry America employs 25 and is equipped with two 3D printers (S-max and S-print) from ExOne and three electric furnaces a 227kg and two 136kg units.