Green Sand Foundry Analytics Software
Sandman Green Sand Foundry Analytics Software for Smarter Sand Control
Sandman is a globally patented, cloud-based analytics platform designed to help green sand foundries reduce repetitive rejections, optimize additive dosing, stabilize system sand, and reclaim lost profits. By connecting sand properties, additives, rejection data, component information, and process signals, Sandman helps foundry teams move from reactive decision-making to proactive process control.
- Reduce repetitive rejections
- Optimize system sand
- Improve additive control
Product Overview
What Is Sandman?
Sandman is an autonomous process control SaaS solution built for green sand foundries that need better visibility, stronger process stability, and more consistent casting outcomes.
Sandman uses advanced machine learning, predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics, cloud computing, IIoT connectivity, and real-time monitoring to support end-to-end digitalization of the foundry sand loop. The platform helps foundries monitor, analyze, and optimize the process from sand preparation through casting production.
Instead of relying only on fixed dosing, manual judgment, and delayed analysis, Sandman gives foundry teams actionable insight into the conditions that influence sand-related defects. This helps teams identify what is driving quality issues and take corrective action faster.
- Cloud-based foundry analytics platform
- Built for green sand process control
- Connects sand, additive, rejection, and component data
- Supports predictive and prescriptive analytics
- Improves real-time process visibility
- Helps reduce sand-related casting defects
The Foundry Challenge
Why Sand Control Creates Repetitive Rejections
Green sand foundries operate in a highly variable environment. Sand properties shift, product mix changes, return sand behavior is difficult to estimate, and experienced foundry knowledge is becoming harder to retain. These issues create a blind spot between process data, sand behavior, and casting quality.
Process Variability
Foundries often deal with inconsistent sand properties, varying sand-to-metal ratios, changing product mixes, and limited real-time correlation between sand data and rejection data. Without a connected analytics system, the same rejection patterns can continue shift after shift.
Additive Waste
In the absence of data-driven decision support, foundries may overdose or under-dose costly additives. Sandman helps move additive management away from fixed dosing and toward smarter recommendations based on actual process needs.
How Sandman Works
From Foundry Data to Actionable Process Control
Sandman groups foundry data, applies predictive and prescriptive analytics, and identifies optimal operating conditions for better sand control, lower rejection levels, improved additive consumption, and more stable production outcomes.
Data Collection
Sandman can use sand lab data, additive data, rejection records, component information, PLC data, SCADA data, Excel inputs, desktop applications, and mobile applications.
Grouping Algorithms
The platform organizes foundry data through grouping algorithms so patterns, components, sand properties, and rejection outcomes can be analyzed more effectively.
Predictive Analytics
Sandman identifies high-influence parameters that may be contributing to casting rejections, helping teams focus on the factors that matter most.
Prescriptive Guidance
Through SANDMIX, Sandman recommends dose-by-need additive adjustments to help foundries target optimal sand properties and better casting outcomes.
Predictive Analytics
High Influence Analytics for Smarter Rejection Reduction
Sandman’s High Influence analytics use machine learning algorithms and mathematical models to analyze multivariate relationships between sand properties and casting rejections. This helps foundries identify which sand parameters are most influential during a selected time period.
Instead of guessing which variable is causing defects, users can view clear, data-backed insights that support faster and more confident decisions. High Influence analytics help foundry professionals understand correlations between sand behavior and rejection outcomes.
With better visibility into influential sand properties, foundries can take proactive corrective action, improve operational efficiency, and support more consistent casting quality.
This is one of the core reasons Sandman is valuable for foundries searching for green sand foundry analytics software that goes beyond basic reporting and helps teams act on real process intelligence.
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Prescriptive Analytics
SANDMIX Dose-by-Need Additive Recommendations
SANDMIX is Sandman’s proprietary prescriptive analytics algorithm. It helps foundries move from fixed additive dosing to smarter, variable, dose-by-need additive control based on desired sand properties and real production conditions.
SANDMIX translates optimal sand properties into recommended sand recipes for specific groups of patterns and production conditions. It can prescribe near-precise quantities of bentonite, coal, silica sand, water, and other additives needed for the next batch mix.
By aligning additive use with actual process needs, SANDMIX helps reduce unnecessary consumption, reduce return sand variability, improve molding sand consistency, and support more stable casting outcomes.
Platform Features
Data Management, Dashboards, Alerts, SPC, and Root Cause Analysis
Sandman provides comprehensive digitization and digitalization capabilities for managing sand, casting pattern, and process data throughout the foundry lifecycle. Through desktop and mobile applications, along with PLC and SCADA integration, Sandman can capture and integrate data from key machines and systems in the sand loop.
- Near real-time Business Intelligence dashboards
- Quick production and rejection metrics
- Filters by date, component, defect, and Pareto views
- Smart alerts through email, WhatsApp, SMS, and in-app notifications
- Statistical Process Control tools for sand parameters and rejection data
- Fishbone and Ishikawa-based root cause analysis tools
Sandman’s dashboard gives users a near real-time view of system sand status and foundry performance. Teams can review rejection percentage charts, production metrics, component-level insights, defect categories, and long-term trends across selected time periods.
The platform also includes smart alerts based on predefined rules, anomaly detection, and pattern recognition. These alerts help teams identify deviations from user-defined process control boundaries and act before process drift becomes a larger production issue.
For deeper analysis, Sandman includes SPC tools such as line charts, run charts, process control charts, process capability metrics, box plots, histograms, and Cp/Cpk analysis. It also supports dynamic root cause analysis by comparing sand property deviations between good and poor performance periods.
Digital Foundry Intelligence
Preserve Foundry Knowledge and Improve Process Stability
As experienced managers retire, change roles, or leave the business, valuable shop floor knowledge can disappear with them. Sandman helps preserve this knowledge through annotation and event-recording features that allow teams to document system changes, process changes, shop floor events, and observations.
This gives foundries a stronger digital knowledge base for future decision-making. Instead of relying only on undocumented experience, teams can use historical context, process notes, and legacy data to make more informed choices.
Sandman also supports a digitally connected foundry by unifying data streams across sand preparation, moulding, laboratory testing, ERP or MIS systems, melt-related process stages, shop floor sensors, and machine systems.
Talk to a Sandman ExpertSandman Lite and Pro
Choose the Sandman Platform Level That Fits Your Foundry
Sandman Lite gives foundries the essential tools needed to begin digital transformation. Sandman Pro provides the full advanced analytics environment for foundries ready to use predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics, and SANDMIX dose-by-need additive recommendations.
Sandman Lite
Best for foundries that want to start digitizing sand control with dashboards, data management, basic analytics, alerts, SPC tools, and foundational process visibility.
Sandman Pro
Best for foundries ready for full predictive analytics, prescriptive analytics, advanced machine learning, SANDMIX recommendations, and deeper process optimization.
Scalable Upgrade Path
Foundries can begin with Sandman Lite and upgrade to Sandman Pro when they are ready to use historical data to power machine learning and prescriptive analytics.
Digital Transformation
Whether your foundry is just starting with Foundry 4.0 or advancing toward deeper automation, Sandman provides a practical path toward better visibility, control, and performance.
Proven Product Impact
Sandman Helps Foundries Reduce Rejections and Reclaim Lost Profit
In one foundry case study, Sandman helped reduce sand-related rejection from 4.86% before implementation to 1.33% after implementation. The foundry had approximately 26,000 tonnes of yearly production capacity and produced iron castings, mostly nodular iron.
After implementing Sandman and using SANDMIX dose-by-need additive prescriptions, the foundry was able to monitor, analyze, and control sand-related rejections more effectively. Reported results included a 72% reduction in sand-related rejection and INR 17.76 million in cost savings, equal to approximately $210,000.
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See How Sandman Can Improve Your Foundry Sand Control
Foundries are facing higher variability, tighter quality expectations, rising input costs, and a shrinking pool of experienced experts. Sandman helps address these challenges by embedding operational intelligence into a digital foundry platform.
With real-time data, predictive analytics, prescriptive guidance, alerts, dashboards, SPC tools, and root cause analysis, Sandman helps foundries reduce firefighting and move toward more stable, repeatable, and profitable production.