“Going forward our new slogan will be: Knights Foundry – Creating Metal Perfection One Pour At A Time.”
Knights Foundry has announced a restructuring of its organisation, a modernisation and update of the company image, including a new logo, a revamp and extension of buildings and an investment in equipment that will enhance its pre-casting capabilities.
“The company, which was established by members of the Van der Walt family as Knights Sales and has subsequently changed its name to Knights Foundry, has been trading for 36 years and it is close to 20 years since we commissioned our first melting operations. Initially the company began brokering castings before getting our own castings manufactured,” said Louis Miller, one of four family members that run the 18-year-old foundry that was established in 2006.
Knights Foundry as a company has grown to employ 261 staff members, performing just about every service needed to manufacture castings for its diverse customer base needs, including machining and assembly
“Since then, Knights Foundry as a company has grown to employ 261 staff members, performing just about every service needed to manufacture castings for its diverse customer base needs, including machining and assembly. I say just about every casting service because we shop out certain operational requirements that are best suited to be done by a third party, such as core blowing,” explains Miller.
The Van der Walt family involvement in Knights Sales included the younger generation of Vincent, brother Cobus, sister Belinda, brother-in-law Miller and mother Letitia, who has been the mainstay of the admin side of the business since the beginning. Father, the late Johann, was one of three brothers who started the company in 1985. He would later establish EJ van der Walt Patternmakers, a company that still exists and is an integral service that Knights Foundry offers.
“Up until his un-timely passing because of Covid related complications in 2021 Johann was the father and figurehead of the company. However, more importantly, he taught us to be polite, humble and respectful. His legacy continues to be part of us and the company and will be going forward.”
Restructuring
“In 2019 Vincent decided to emigrate to the United States of America. There were a number of reasons that Vincent took this big decision but one of the primary factors was to explore the possibility of extending Knights Foundry’s penetration into the export market with the US being a primary target.”
Knights Foundry have recently invested in an 83 Series portable Hexagon 6-axis articulated arm that was supplied by Retecon. The absolute arm is suitable for reverse engineering and scanning and brings a new level of offering to Knights Foundy’s customers. “When we receive a part that is damaged and has no original design drawing, the absolute arm enables the technicians to quickly capture the data points for the creation of a fully-realised 3D drawing in the CAD software. This quick scanning gives the designers more time to spend optimising the drawing and the final product.”
“We already had a client in the US and they were becoming more and more important to us with a steady increase in orders. We could look after the manufacture of the castings and then ship them internationally. Prior to Vincent’s move to the US the castings left the shores of South Africa and then we were in the hands of the unknown, which sounds like a strange comment in this highly connected world that we live in today.”
“Vincent set up Abrasion and Corrosion Solutions LLC. Our strategy was that if we had someone close on the ground, we could at least make sure that our shipping companies that we had engaged were kept on their toes. When the pandemic emerged, it confirmed these concerns of having no control and making sure that our export orders were delivered timeously, were alleviated as Vincent was already there and he took away many of the unknowns.”
“Despite the logistical challenges our main objective was to increase our export orders. Exports have grown and now make up about 42% of the company’s turnover. They include castings being sent to the UK, US, Australia and Europe, which is our biggest market. US sales have also increased.”
Knights Foundry have invested in an Unicam 3-axis CNC milling router to machine the shapes of the polystyrene and the larger wood moulds that they need. The machine has a bed size of 4m long by 2 m wide and a 450mm height. Should a pattern be required that exceeds the height of the machine, the job is divided into multiple sections and are assembled after cutting
“With the passing of Johann and Vincent moving abroad the company has now been restructured to accommodate these events. The majority shareholder is now our mother / mother-in-law Letitia and Cobus, Belinda and myself remain on as minority shareholders. Vincent has sold his shares to us and he takes ownership of the export company.”
Company image, logo and branding
“With these developments we decided to look at our company image, logo and branding so as to better align ourselves with global thinking and to enhance our ability to engage and better serve our customers.”
“A brand’s image serves as a representation of the brand’s products, services and reputation within its industry. Understanding what makes up a brand image and why it’s important to a business can help you transform your company into a customer-oriented, professional organisation.”
“Brand building is a critical and ongoing part of a business. A great business idea or innovative product means nothing if you can’t communicate it to the world, specifically in a way that your target audience can relate to.”
Moulds being coated
“We want to grow the company and not by just acquiring new clients. You could say we want to grow organically as we want to grow our existing clients’ businesses and as a result we will grow. We want to get closer to them and have a secure and trusting relationship.”
“We have engaged someone to look at all these aspects and they have designed a new logo, a company profile, a company corporate brochure, a new website which will be launched soon and many other cosmetic visuals in the office and factory environment of the company. We want to resonate with our target audience.”
“Going forward our new slogan will be: Knights Foundry – Creating Metal Perfection One Pour At A Time.”
“The branding and visuals in the factory also help with our ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 45 001:2018 certification. We have had certification for these two standards since 2015.”
“At our company, quality isn’t just a promise – it’s a commitment that runs through the heart of everything we do. With unwavering dedication and meticulous attention to detail, we stand behind our products with confidence born of expertise and passion. From design to manufacturing, every step is meticulously scrutinised to ensure excellence, because we believe our customers deserve nothing less. Our unwavering dedication to quality is not just a principle – it’s a promise we keep every day, because we understand that our reputation depends on the satisfaction and trust of our customers.”
Knights Foundry has a heavy, medium and small bay setup for moulds
CNC router and machines
“At a time when businesses are facing unprecedented challenges, it’s more important than ever to invest in technology that can help them to survive and thrive. If you’re a small business owner in South Africa, consider the benefits of CNC machinery and how it can help your business to stay ahead of the competition.”
“One way to address this challenge is by investing in CNC machinery such as a CNC router. This technology can help small businesses to automate and streamline their manufacturing processes, achieve greater precision and accuracy, and expand their product offerings. In addition, by incorporating a CNC router into their operations, small businesses can gain a competitive edge in the market, as the technology enables faster production times and greater consistency in product quality.”
“This is why we have invested in an Unicam 3-axis CNC milling router to machine the shapes of the polystyrene and the larger wood moulds that we need.”
“The machine has a bed size of 4m long by 2 m wide and a 450mm height. Should a pattern be required that exceeds the height of the machine, the job is divided into multiple sections and are assembled after cutting.”
“Our existing pattern shop will continue to operate as per usual.”
Pouring in the foundry
CNC machining
“Additionally, the CNC machine shop that we are in partnership with and is located on our site in Wadeville, Gauteng has steadily been increasing its machines on the floor. This is particularly useful for our export markets as we can dispatch fully machined components. Implications of trying to get CNC machining done internationally involves cost and finding the right service provider.”
Reverse engineering and laser scanning with Hexagon absolute arm
“Alongside our inspection capabilities and metallurgical testing, we have now added a Hexagon absolute arm. The absolute arm’s suitability for reverse engineering brings a new level of offering to our customers.”
“When we receive a part that is damaged and has no original design drawing, the absolute arm enables the technicians to quickly capture the data points for the creation of a fully-realised 3D drawing in the CAD software. This quick scanning gives the designers more time to spend optimising the drawing and the final product.”
Despatch
“There are always minor discrepancies on old tools. They can be worn after having been used for decades and may have indentations and other issues. You don’t want to have old damage in your CAD model. The designer uses the 3D CAD design to digitally remove any unevenness, cracks, or other issues in the worn-out tool.”
Atmospheric Emissions License (AEL)
“Knights Foundry has been issued with an AEL by the City of Ekurhuleni in 2021 and the licence has been renewed in 2022 and is valid for 5 years. The AEL was issued for the operation of five electric induction furnaces. Knights Foundry undertakes annual monitoring of the atmospheric emissions in line with the AEL requirements and has proven that our emissions are compliant with the AEL limits and the Minimum Emission Standards of South Africa.”
“Knights Foundry also undertakes annual audits of our compliance with the conditions contained in the AEL. These audits have shown continuous improvement from Knights Foundry and indicates that we are generally complaint with the AEL conditions. Knights Foundry further endeavours to completely comply with all environmental legislation and is currently undergoing a few processes to ensure that we are 100% complaint with all legal requirements.”
Furthermore, Knights Foundry undertakes monthly dust fallout monitoring to determine the ambient impact of our operation on the receiving environment. If high dust fallout rates are detected, Knights implements dust reduction strategies in order to limit fugitive dust emissions, ensuring that our overall impact on the environment is limited. Knights Foundry also employs an Environmental Consultant, which aids in our compliance with the environmental legislation requirements.”
“It comes at a great financial cost to the company to comply with these requirements, it is however mandatory and Knights Foundry aims to operate environmentally friendly and sustainably.”
Capabilities services and cast products
“Our capability is of producing castings between 0.5kg to 3 800kg in our small, medium and heavy bays, we have a monthly capacity of 250 metric tons just on day shift and we melt cast iron, SG iron, steel-alloys, manganese, hi-chrome and stainless steel.”
Product ready to be delivered
“We are unique in that our ferrous alloys are made up of 62 variants. I don’t think any other foundry in South Africa does this.”
“We operate under 16 700m² of roof using floor and carousel moulding, we have 9 induction furnaces between 280kg to 3 800kg, we offer metallurgical testing and SANAS accreditation, we have a pattern shop, a CNC machine shop and now CNC pattern milling and we do reverse engineer and laser scanning with our Hexagon absolute arm.”
“Typical cast products include slurry and multi-stage pump castings, crusher parts, rail components, drag line components, mining, agricultural, aviation, dredging parts and general engineering.”
For further details contact Knights Foundry on TEL: 011 827 2517 or visit https://knightsfoundry.com or https://castingssa.com/knights-sales-cc
