Modernization at Nissan
The melting powerhouse driving Nissan Casting Australia
The Nissan Casting Australia Plant (NCAP) in Dandenong South, Victoria, produces aluminum die-cast parts for Nissan vehicles worldwide. Its primary furnace, a StrikoMelter from StrikoWestofen, supplies 90% of the plant’s daily melt needs — and delivers “as-good-as-new” performance after relining.
A subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co. in Japan, NCAP operates 24/7 to produce over 2.6 million die-cast components each year, 70% for electric or hybrid vehicles. The facility houses 14 die-casting machines, 33 CNC machines, and more than 60 robots, leveraging global best-in-class technology.
Maintenance and Process Engineer Ken Teh calls the StrikoMelter the plant’s true workhorse:
“Installed in 2012, it provides over 90% of our molten metal using a 50/50 mix of ingots and returns. It’s our most energy-efficient furnace, needs minimal maintenance, and offers exceptional reliability — a vital, cost-effective asset.”
— Ken Teh, NCAP’s Maintenance and Process Engineer"StrikoWestofen has always provided us with excellent service and their furnaces are truly built for sophisticated, long-term performance, while also being simple to operate. To have a melting furnace that produces so much melt, so efficiently, and the knowledge that we have modernization options like this to keep it running so well; that’s what maintenance engineers like me love to see.”
The perfect performance boost
To ensure long-term performance of its StrikoMelter, Nissan contacted StrikoWestofen for a service check, refractory reline, and dedicated training package.
Ken commented: “First, the StrikoWestofen service engineer visited our site to carry out a thorough inspection – applying his knowledge and experience to recommending improvements that we could make to boost performance. This is a smart way to operate as it means anything identified can be implemented during the relining or re-commissioning phase. We were very happy with the advice we received.”
Next, two refractory specialists from StrikoWestofen arrived on site to carry out the relining project. Ken added: “The specialists were professional, knowledgeable, and worked very well with our local team of technicians. The process is like a Swiss watch in terms of precision step-by-step assembly.”
Once recommissioned, performance testing measured everything from melting throughput to gas consumption, “surpassing all expectations” of the Nissan team.
Training to optimise operations.
Completing the modernization package, StrikoWestofen’s technical trainer delivered a StrikoMelter training session focused on maximizing system availability and energy efficiency.
Ken added: “StrikoWestofen has always provided us with excellent service and their furnaces are truly built for sophisticated, long-term performance, while also being simple to operate. To have a melting furnace that produces so much melt, so efficiently, and the knowledge that we have modernization options like this to keep it running so well; that’s what maintenance engineers like me love to see.”
Nissan continues to benefit from ongoing modernization and technical support, including software upgrades and the recent addition of a Hot Gas Baffle — all helping to melt aluminum as cost- and energy-efficiently as possible.