Foote Foundry is a privately owned foundry that produces machineable castings in gray and ductile iron. With a history dating back to 1851, Foote Foundry has experienced steady growth over the years and completed a $5.25-million foundry modernization and expansion in 1998. As one of the country’s oldest continually operating green sand foundries, Foote Foundry now produces 250 to 270 tons per month of castings from a few ounces to 1,500 pounds for the agriculture, chemical processing, compressor, construction, heating and cooling, machine tool, material handling, metalworking, mining, oil and gas, pump, and valve industries.

Due to their energy-intensive operations, Foote Foundry needed an energy demand management system that would allow them to offset peak demand charges and stay in the game. They required a system that could monitor and control their 1000 kW and 1600 kW Ajax induction furnaces to increase the efficiency of their power use. It was also necessary to evaluate the amount of electricity they spent on making each part using continuous, real-time measurements and also optimize their furnace equipment. Powerit recommended an energy management system to seamlessly manage loads and correspondingly reduce Foote’s energy bill without adversely affecting production, or the quality of their products.