FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Two years in the making, Mercury Marine opened the doors of its new expansion Monday.
“I think this is great for our community and employees to continue expanding in this area,” said Chris Drees, Mercury’s president.
“We take recycled aluminum we smelt it and makes sure the formulation is correct, and then we inject that in extremely high pressure into a dye and then it forms the final casting.”
Before that Mercury-boat engine hits the water, it’s made inside the Fond Du Lac manufacturing plant of Mercury Marine.
Drees tells FOX 11 robots can do it all from metal pouring to part marking.
“We can inject over a hundred pounds of molten metal into a die in less than the time it takes to blink your eye.”
“A lot of moving pieces to it so it’s a very complex process,” said General Manager of components Jerry Cegielski.
By July, he says three more of those automated diecast machines will fill this new 23,500 square foot space.
“The new machines will add, probably, about 15 percent more capacity and having them fully automated makes a big difference for us. They’re much more efficient.”
Mercury Marine employees say the new space will help them fill the growing demand for Mercury boat parts. The die presses are just one part of the whole process.
Drees say each weighs several tons.
“We have two of the largest diecast presses in the entire world on our campus.”
Since 2008, Mercury Marine says it has spent more than a billion dollars on various expansions to their Fond Du Lac manufacturing plant and headquarters.
Mercury Marine does still use some manual die-casting machines.
Last month, the company also broke ground on a $17 million propeller-casting facility.
