September 24, 2007 -- MAG Industrial Automation Systems has won major volume production orders for machining lines to process compacted graphite iron (CGI) vee-diesel engine cylinder blocks in four facilities in North America. The lines will use hundreds of machining centers. Roger Cope, vice chairman of MAG Industrial Automation Systems and president of MAG International, says that in 2006 MAG supported CGI simultaneous engineering projects for US OEMs, adding that three of the four new lines will eventually double in capacity because of customer demand.
Cope has not revealed his OEM customers - but Cummins, Ford, General Motors and Navistar International have all announced new, vee-diesel engine programs. The new engines will appear between 2008 and 2010. He predicted that diesels will dominate the US pick-up and SUV sectors, and that most of the new vee-diesels will rely on CGI cylinder blocks.
Luiz Tarquinio S Ferro, president and chief executive officer of the Tupy SA foundry in Joinville, Brazil, believes CGI will become the dominant material for vee-diesel cylinder blocks as well as commercial vehicle cylinder blocks and heads. Tupy will supply over 50% of the North American diesel engine market with CGI cylinder blocks - and may even undertake substantial machining. CGI can provide weight savings of 100 to 120kg over conventional grey iron. Ford has developed V6 and V8 diesel engines, with CGI cylinder blocks, made at Dagenham. The company has on the stocks a new 4.4-litre V8 for the Ford F-Series pick-up trucks and a 6.7-litre V8 engine. Both will be built in Chihuahua, Mexico, on MAG lines.
Source: Production World
