Xiongbang Die Casting (Nantong) Co., Ltd. – Model 2000 Metal Crusher & Apron Conveyor Case Study

Xiongbang Die Casting (Nantong) Co., Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wencan Group (SHA: 603348). Founded in 2006, it is one of the largest and most technologically advanced die-casting enterprises in China and a state-certified high-tech enterprise. The company specializes in the R&D and manufacture of precision aluminum alloy automotive castings, including body structural components, integrated structural parts and battery housings, serving leading global automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, NIO, Li Auto, XPeng, Tesla, SERES, and GAC Aion. In 2024, Xiongbang received the third prize of the Jiangsu Provincial Science & Technology Award; in the January–August period of 2026, both output and sales doubled year-on-year.

For a plant that produces over ten thousand integrated high-pressure die-cast rear floor panels per month, return-scrap handling at the melting furnace directly determines whether the entire line can keep pace. The die-casting process naturally generates a steady stream of runners, biscuit ends, edge trimmings and rejected castings — "return scrap" that arrives in every conceivable size and shape. Over-sized chunks melt sluggishly, hogging furnace space, while the mixed geometry keeps piling up at the furnace mouth until somebody with a steel bar pushes it through. At best, it ties up manpower; at worst, it poses a safety risk.

In June 2024, Xiongbang installed a Model 2000 metal crusher and a matching apron conveyor from Gongyi Haoxing Machinery, assigned solely to uniform pre-furnace preparation of return scrap. The workflow is simple: a forklift dumps runners, biscuit ends and rejected castings straight into the apron-conveyor hopper, which feeds the crusher at a steady rate. The crusher's hammers reduce large blocks to a uniform 50–80 mm output, conveyed directly into the furnace feed bins.

What looks like a modest setup resolved two long-standing bottlenecks. First, charging switched from erratic hand-feeding to a steady, even flow — the scrap melts faster and more thoroughly inside the furnace. Second, the charging platform no longer needs a dedicated worker poking the furnace mouth with a pry bar, cutting both labor and risk. The technical team tracked three identical-recipe batches before and after commissioning: after uniform crushing, average melt-cycle time was cut by about 12 minutes per heat, and natural-gas consumption per tonne of aluminum dropped by roughly 7%. As the workshop manager summed it up: “The equipment didn't cost a fortune, but the gas and labor savings paid it back within months.”