Abstract:
Quality control reduces rejects and increases production
in a foundry. Use of high standard equipment, technics and competitive
workforce results in quality products. Industries can be classified
on the basis of raw materials, size and ownership. The size refers to
the amount of capital invested, number of people employed and the
volume of production.
A survey was conducted with an aim of assessing the level of quality
control and categorizing the local foundries. A total of forty five
foundries located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru and western Kenya
sugar belt were studied. These foundries were using aluminium scrap
as a raw material. Data was gathered by use of questionnaires,
interviews and site visits to the foundries.
The foundries were categorized into; jua kali, small scale, medium
scale and large scale foundries. This classification was based on
parameters like aluminium casting practices, capital investments,
human resources, volume of scrap consumed, energy consumed,
occupational health and safety, and environment conservation.
In this survey it was found that quality control practices such as melt
treatment (use of additives, degassers and fluxes), material testing,
microstructure analysis and chemical analysis were used occasionally
by about 20 percent of the foundries. It was also found that 90 percent
of the workforce lacked formal training in foundry practices and the
capacity utilization was about 40 percent. As a result most of the
products, in general, did not have a competitive edge in the market
and could also not find application where high impact and fatigue
strength were required.
