Federal-Mogul Powertrain today opened a cylinder liner foundry, significantly expanding its Naberezhnye Chelny plant in Russia, a joint venture with KAMAZ in operation since 2009. The state-of-the-art foundry adds in-house manufacturing capability of cylinder liner castings to the existing facilities, enabling fully integrated liner production. It complements Federal-Mogul Powertrain’s local Power Cylinder Unit (PCU) manufacture, providing a complete package of heavy-duty pistons, rings, liners and pins for JV partner KAMAZ, the leading manufacturer of trucks in Russia.
“Our longstanding successful partnership with Federal-Mogul is taking on a new dimension. The new foundry will enable us to expand the range of PCU components manufactured in Naberezhnye Chelny and to add new technical capabilities to our joint venture,” said Sergey Kogogin, General Director of KAMAZ PTC. “Up-to-date innovative approaches that underlie the joint projects of KAMAZ and Federal Mogul are especially in demand for KAMAZ’s new line-up of vehicles powered with high-performance reliable engines which we are currently working on.”
“Russia represents a dynamic, emerging market in the globalised production of heavy-duty engines, for both on- and off-highway applications. The expansion of our Naberezhnye Chelny plant demonstrates our long-term commitment to the region and confirms Chelny’s position at the heart of heavy-duty PCU component manufacture in the country,” said Rainer Jueckstock, CEO Federal-Mogul Powertrain.
“This expansion is a further significant investment in our manufacturing footprint in the region and reinforces our strong partnership with KAMAZ,” explained Uwe Plaxin, General Manager Federal-Mogul Powertrain Russia. “The new liner foundry brings casting manufacture in-house, enabling us to produce liners in various material grades on site. The plant now encompasses the entire heavy-duty PCU production process. This gives us complete control over quality and material optimisation, further improving fuel efficiency and oil consumption in future engine applications.”
To accommodate the new foundry, the existing production building at Naberezhnye Chelny plant has been extended. Newly installed facilities include melting furnaces for raw material, a fully automated centrifugal casting machine and an robot-assisted automated pre-machining line featuring latest generation technology. This adds to the already existing equipment for finishing, honing, washing, final inspections, packaging and dispatch.