Fonderie De Riccardis has equipped the core assembly line with an automatic boring machine to automatically bore vent holes in the moulding box. The vent holes are an essential means of guaranteeing the full release of gases found inside the flask when the cast iron is fed and those generated when the liquid cast iron comes into contact with the mould. The failure to release gas is the principal reason for the formation of gas in the casting. The automatic boring machine is in fact a Cartesian robot equipped with extremely powerful brushless motors to move the bit that bores along the three axes x, y and z on high-precision linear runner bars. The bit that bores the holes is lowered onto the sand and produces vent holes. The points at which the holes are to be bored are determined by a manipulator equipped with a Renishaw touch probe that is positioned by the operator in contact with each point on the pattern corresponding to a vent hole. The boring point coordinates are memorised automatically. The position for the gate stick is also established to ensure the utmost precision. The operation is only carried out during the sampling stage as the position of the holes is subsequently recalled automatically by the boring machine. The system calculates the shortest path to bore the holes in the selected points. The system can make 20 holes in cycle time, keeping the mould perfectly intact, both internally and externally without producing any sand residue. The automatic boring machine represents an enormous improvement for the foundry in terms of both the productivity and quality of the castings