Remote sign-off

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the inability of customers to travel, Guyson International – an industrial finishing equipment manufacturer – is having to remotely pass-off a number of machines destined for export markets. However, thanks to the co-operation of customers and use of the latest video conferencing software and hardware, the company is able to go through rigorous Factory Acceptance Trial (FAT) procedural checklists and pass-off its machines. In the first half of August alone, Guyson shipped well over £1m worth of export equipment using this strategy.

For further information
www.guyson.co.uk

Standard solution for non-circular grinding

New software from NUM provides manufacturers of CNC cylindrical grinding machines with a means of adding non-circular grinding capabilities to their products, without incurring significant development time and cost.

Non-circular grinding is used in a variety of automated manufacturing applications, such as the production of camshafts, crankshafts, cams and eccentric shafts. However, the process is extremely complex because the non-circular contour leads to constantly changing engagement and movement conditions between the grinding wheel and the workpiece.

NUM has now added non-circular grinding functionality to its NUMgrind cylindrical grinding software, which forms an application-specific element of the company’s Flexium+ CNC platform. The new function is fully compatible with other Flexium software, from release 4.1.20.00 onwards.
NUMgrind is specifically designed to simplify the creation of G-code programs for CNC grinding machines through the use of an intuitive graphical HMI, conversational-style ‘fill in the blanks’ type dialogues, or a combination of the two.

Unlike conventional CADCAM workstation tools for generating CNC machine-tool programs, NUMgrind is intended for use in the production environment. The software enables shop-floor personnel to handle every-day machining tasks quickly and efficiently – and the work can be easily shared among several employees and machines.

Operators simply determine the sequence of the grinding process via the HMI and enter the necessary data for the grinding operations, grinding wheels and dressing in the dialogue pages. Programming is further simplified by the fact that the HMI is supported by a library of predefined shapes, which includes eccentric circles, hexagons, pentagons, polygons, Reuleaux triangles and rhombi. A CNC program is then created completely automatically and stored in an executable form.

For further information www.num.com

MES solution suits aerospace tool maker

An engineer-to-order specialist, producing high-end tooling for the aerospace industry, has switched from its former parent company’s made-to-stock business management system, to the WorkPlan MES solution, describing it as the “perfect fit”.

API Design & Build is the new trading name of a company recently acquired by the Ansuka Ltd Group. All employees of the former company, KTL Tooling, have transferred to API, along with its assets and order book, and will be working from the same premises in Burnley, with the same processes and protocols.

Originally, KTL Tooling was part of a US-owned composites manufacturing corporation, and had to use the group-wide ERP system, which general manager Danny Hough says was far from ideal for its bespoke work: “It was a made-to-stock system, highly customised for the composites business, and as we’re a bespoke tooling company it was never a good fit.”

The bulk of the company’s production is high-end aerospace tooling, composite mould tools, assembly fixtures and drill templates, for both military and commercial applications. Customers include BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Airbus and Boeing.

A lot of KTL’s history involves tooling for exterior panels – what Hough describes as the skin of the aircraft, and structural components such as ribs and wing spars.

“Historically these have been produced from aluminium alloys, but much progress has been made in converting these types of parts into composites,” he says.

The company uses a large Hexagon CMM, operating in an XYZ envelope of 6 x 3 x 2 m, which ensures that the process of guaranteeing a completely accurate final mould tool, is kept in-house.

“We’d never release a tool without a full report to the customer generated by a CMM,” says Hough. “So, if we didn’t have it, we’d have to subcontract the metrology operation out, and there’d be a cost implication. It makes us more competitive to have the CMM in-house; it’s more efficient, cost-effective, and provides full control.”

The CMM is installed on a purpose-built concrete base to reduce vibrations, in a temperature-controlled booth, and is listed on WorkPlan as a resource for capacity planning scheduling. Process times vary depending on the number of points being measured, and Hough says there is often a queue of parts waiting to go into the inspection booth: “WorkPlan gives us full visibility of the work going through the CMM, meaning we can make informed decisions on the implications of certain items queueing.”

A number of API Design & Build’s tools are particularly complex, or large – the company recently tendered on a single carbon component that was almost the full-wing structure for a small aircraft, 13 m long by 1.5 m wide. Many other jobs can involve up to 300 sub-assemblies, so Hough says it is no wonder the company’s old ERP system was causing issues, simply because of the number of processes required to load jobs, and in the way it operated.

“Everything had to be made and transacted through stock, and there was no link between the purchase order we’d placed, which was ultimately going into stock and then being called off by the job,” he explains. “It meant we couldn’t keep track of costs on a project until many of the sub-levels were transacted towards the end. So we genuinely didn’t know if we were making money on a job or not.”

All this changed when API Design & Build invested in WorkPlan.

“As we’re now placing those purchase orders directly against the job, even before the order is committed or delivered to us, we see the cost,” says Hough. “From day one of an order going into WorkPlan we start the manufacturing plan around it. It shows times and operations, which are then multiplied by our rates for each section. We constantly see the cost building up, and it creates a budget for us to work to.”

He describes the software’s purchase-to-order aspect as being “absolutely vital” by providing full control over processing the company’s large tools and sub-assemblies through the shop floor. Each job is entered by the commercial team as an order and, once approved, the planning department adds materials and operations before it goes to production.

The ‘Purchasing and Stock Management’ function is another major benefit, meaning the company’s buyer can easily bring up the material list for a job, then group materials together. He or she can then send everything to the supplier as one purchase order, or a multiple line PO, instead of requiring individual purchase orders.

Hough concludes by saying: “WorkPlan’s flexibility means API Design & Build now has a complete overview of where each project is in real time. Previously we had to draw up project and costing reports on Excel and presentation files.”

For further information www.workplan.com

Hexagon software on show at Siane

The Hexagon group is set to present software solutions at the Siane exhibition in Toulouse later this week, enabling aerospace manufacturers to take their businesses to the next level. Visitors to stand B81 at Siane (20-22 October), will see how an aerospace part progresses from reverse engineering through to final programming.

According to Hexagon, it is now even easier to prepare parts in VISI, as recent updates to the software’s ‘Reverse CAD’ module have improved the reverse engineering process. In addition, on-stand demonstrations will show significant savings through improved cycle times for surfacing, contouring and ‘Waveform’ roughing, using the 2021 versions of Hexagon’s CAM software Edgecam, as well as its simulation solution NCSIMUL.

For further information https://is.gd/quboba

Combined deburring and handling

At ZSO Zerspanungs und Systemtechnik GmbH in Oberstaufen, Kadia has implemented three ‘Deburr-Automation-Cells’. The function of these systems includes not only deburring workpieces, but complete automated handling of parts. European Precision Machines Ltd is the UK agent for Kadia solutions.

For ZSO managing director Carsten Binder, the project was particularly important as it involved the handling and deburring of grey cast iron housings for mobile hydraulic pumps weighing up to 26 kg – heavier than parts usually processed by the company.
“Our plan was to have a robot carry out all the recurring processes,” he says. “Deburring would also be possible on the machine tool, but a robot is a far more cost-effective solution.”

The Kadia proposal was based on a six-axis robot with a payload of 120 kg and a reach of 2.5 m, supplied completely from a single source. Kadia’s scope of supply included process development, the robot, cell, gripper, deburring stations and tools. Not to forget, of course, the sequence programming with all safety-relevant designs. Kadia delivered the first automation cell in April 2019, a second in September 2019 and a third in January 2020.

Notably, the automation cells had to be connected to three identical Heller H5000 machining centres. ZSO had gradually purchased several of these four-axis machines (already equipped with robot interfaces) especially for the pump housings. The robots had to carry out loading and unloading of the machine tools, as well as the deburring, within the machining cycle time (around 20 minutes).

“It’s important for our customers that we were able to increase process reliability and thus produce quality deburring results,” says Binder. “All edges are now deburred absolutely evenly and according to customer requirements; there are no variations in the execution. In addition, the robot never forgets an edge or thread, so reworking is a thing of the past.”

For further information www.kadia.com