Jiangzhong Chooses the New Italpresse Gauss TF5700

With 5,700 tons of closing force, it is the Italpresse Gauss’s largest ever die-casting machine. Jiangzhong will produce large aluminium structural castings for lifts and escalators

Nantong Jiangzhong Photoelectricity Co., Ltd. (“Jiangzhong”) has officially launched its latest project: installing an Italpresse Gauss TF5700 High Pressure Die Casting (HPDC) machine. Held on 1st February 2021 at the company’s base in Jiangsu Province, China, the project launch ceremony follows the contract signed at the end of 2020. With its huge 3500 x 3500mm platens, the TF5700’s closing force of 5,700 tons making it the ideal solution for large part production. Once installed, Jiangzhong’s TF5700 – which will be built at Italpresse Gauss’ Italian headquarters – will be the first one deployed in China, with the Italpresse team at Norican Group’s facility in Changzhou completing the install and supporting the machine moving forward. In a perfect pairing with the TF5700, Jiangzhong has also purchased a Westomat 3100 from StrikoWestofen to integrate seamlessly with the machine.

Opening up new opportunities with outstanding quality and productivity

Established in 1992, Jiangzhong specialises in the production of die-cast aluminium alloy parts for lifts and escalators, such as escalator steps, lift ceilings and floors, moving walkway treads and glass-holder brackets. In 2020, it produced 16,000 tonnes of die-cast aluminium parts for famous brands like Schindler, Mitsubishi, Otis, Hitachi and Hyundai. “The future of our company depends on advanced, smart and digitally-enabled equipment,” said Mr Xu Yinglong, Chairman of Jiangzhong. “The TF5700 will help us with larger parts for our traditional escalator market and will also open up new markets for us in producing large structural parts for automotive or even high speed railway. This is a big opportunity. We are seeing a 25% increase in our annual output, so we expect the new machine to help us maintain or exceed our current growth rate.”
Commenting at the opportunity ahead for Jiangzhong, StrikoWestofen and Italpresse Gauss, Peter Reuther, Senior Vice President of StrikoWestofen said that he believes the partnership will enable all three businesses to seek further “product breakthrough, explore potential value, move forward towards high, precise and advanced direction continuously, and make greater contribution to the innovation and development of foundry industry”.
The foundry already operates five 3,000-tonne die-casting machines as well as numerous other smaller and medium-sized die-casting machines. Three of Jiangzhong’s large machines come from Italpresse Gauss, with the first installed over a decade ago.  “Italpresse die-casting machines offer reliability, stable performance and high output, and are supported by good after sales service,” explains Mr Yinglong. “Our relationship with Italpresse started in 2005. Since then, we have bought one 3,000-tonne die-casting machine and two 3,300-tonne high pressure die casting machines, which have been great for us.”

Large, high quality components – smart, compact machine

Compared to toggle-based designs, Italpresse Gauss’s TF (toggle-free) range of high-pressure die-casting machines offer a smaller machine footprint, greater rigidity and fewer wear parts for improved reliability and performance. Though it can produce very large components, the TF5700’s compact dimensions mean it will fit easily into Jiangzhong’s existing factory. The fact that it is fully digitally enabled also supports Jiangzhong’s need for smart technology. “We trust Italpresse’s HPDC technology, very stable performance, and compact design,” said Mr Yinglong. “To suit our current workshop, we wanted a lean and smart machine, and the TF5700 is exactly right. Real-time data is also very important to us, and will help us to monitor the whole die-casting process.” “We are very satisfied with Italpresse’s equipment performance and also the quality of the castings they produce,” concludes Mr Yinglong. “During over 15 years of cooperation, we’ve also built a very good relationship – we trust each other. That’s why, when we needed a big machine, we chose Italpresse.”  Also attending the official opening ceremony were Mario Cincotta, CEO of Italpresse Gauss, and Peter Holm Larsen, head of Aluminium activities for Norican Group. Mario said: “This is a hugely important and exciting milestone for both organizations. In being one the first organizations to order our new TF5700 – not just in China, but in the world – Nantong Jiangzhong Photoelectricity Co., Ltd. has shown both its pioneering spirit and its trust in us to make ‘new possibilities’ happen.” Echoing Mario’s words, Peter commented: “We have been a proud partner to Nantong for many years now, and for me this is proving our ability to communicate, to find ways forward when challenges occur, and last but not least proves our trust in each other. There is nothing that can replace a good partnership when it comes to mutual success”.