Kaman UK has delivered its 80,000th rear fuselage packer to BAE Systems for its F-35 manufacturing programme. Pictured is an RAF F-35B Lightning (II) from 617 Squadron based at RAF Marham. The new stealth jet is performing a hover manoeuvre during RIAT 2018. The Royal International Ait Tattoo 2018 is held at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire 13-15th July. It is an annual event and attracts crowds of over 150,000 who come to see aerial displays and get up to close aircraft from around the world. The Lightning fifth-generation combat aircraft will operate alongside the Typhoon. Lightning is a multi-role machine capable of conducting missions including air-to surface, electronic warfare, intelligence gathering and air-to-air simultaneously. This year marks a special milestone for the Royal Air Force as they celebrate their centenary and is the main theme of the event.
Supplying these parts since 2003, the rear fuselage packers, and 1000 plenum ducts, have been used in the manufacture of over 500 aircraft. Kaman UK first began working with BAE Systems in 1951 under its predecessor company, English Electric Company.
Christopher Morris, Kaman UK’s managing director, says: “We are pleased that we’ve been able to support BAE Systems as it develops the aircraft for today and tomorrow that will guarantee the nation’s security and provide continued employment for thousands of engineers and support staff across the UK supply chain. We’re looking forward to continuing the supply of parts and services for this aerospace and defence leader by investing in our technology, our people and our systems.”
For further information www.kaman.com
A Shropshire-based manufacturer of precision components has been selected to take part in a prestigious supplier development programme by Collins Aerospace.
Advanced Chemical Etching (ACE) is working with Collins Aerospace on a host of continuous improvement and training activities to help the firm strengthen its ability to supply group factories across the globe.
The company is now setting its sights on securing ‘Gold Supplier’ status, which could be achieved over the next six months if it continues to meet 100% on-time-in-full (OTIF) delivery and stronger collaboration on root cause analysis.
For further information www.ace-uk.net
MA Exhibitions, which owns and runs Subcon, The Engineer Expo and The Manufacturing Management Show, has taken the decision to reschedule the events from 28-30 September to 26-28 January 2021.
The shows will now take place in halls 7 and 8 at the Birmingham NEC, running alongside MACH 2021, as well as Air Tech, Fluid Power & Systems, Drives & Controls, Plant & Asset Management and Smart Industry Expo.
According to the organiser, the absolute priority remains the health, safety and wellbeing of all exhibitors, visitors and staff. The new January dates will facilitate the delivery of the best possible event experience for everyone involved. All existing exhibitor bookings will be automatically transferred to the new dates and a member of the team will be in touch over the coming days to discuss any questions.
For further information www.subconshow.co.uk
“The accuracy of programming is essential for us; if our CNC programs aren’t accurate, it would be catastrophic.” Those are the words of Stéphane Haoui, machining manager at Loiretech, a company specialising in large, complex tools for the commercial aerospace, automotive, defence and energy industries.
Loiretech’s design, manufacturing and production control processes face many issues – which are resolved by seamlessly merging three products – WorkNC, WorkPlan and WorkXplore from Hexagon’s production software portfolio – to create one integrated solution that connects all of its business silos together.
Based at Bouguenais in France, Loiretech Ingénierie produces a range of composite and metal tools for forming, thermoforming, moulding and part inspection. The company designs and manufactures, among other things, moulds for the production of reactors, fuselages and structural parts. In addition, the space market is well catered for, in particular through the production of tools for satellite reflectors and rocket fuselage reflectors. Loiretech supplies the automotive industry with control and automation tools for cutting out entire dashboards.
As well as tooling production, the company directly manufactures blades and propellers for the naval industry. Nine machine tools, which include Zayer, FPT, Forest Liné and Rambaudi, are programmed by Hexagon’s WorkNC CAM software, which Haoui says is vital to its operation: “The shop floor couldn’t function without WorkNC as it’s fully integrated into all stages of manufacturing: analysis, comparison, simulation, verification and machining.”
He says that Loiretech uses materials which can deform on the CNC machines, and their tools must generally be accurate to six or seven hundredths per metre; sometimes even to five hundredths.
“However, WorkNC’s reliability gives us the power and accuracy we need to ensure those tolerances are met every time,” says Haoui. “We begin by creating the WorkNC range, and prepare for manufacturing by extending the surfaces to accommodate the volume and define the part layout.” sdr
After that, the company defines the raw material, the machine to be used, and the work holding. Then, the tool paths are programmed using WorkNC’s roughing, re-roughing, semi-finishing, finishing and cornering functions. The software automatically displays the stock in real time as the workpiece moves forward through the machining process, ensuring high accuracy.
“In order to secure the whole process before starting manufacturing, we simulate the tool paths to check there are no collisions between the machine, the part, the cutting tool and the tool holder,” says Haoui. “And to finalise the part we use WorkNC’s five-axis capability to mark it for routing and drilling. It used to take two days to program a part with 300 holes, but now it takes less than two hours.”
Loiretech Ingénierie also has a research and innovation department working on European aerospace and energy projects which can run over several years, in collaboration with universities and research centres.
WorkPlan keeps track of all the company’s business. As an example, the research and innovations department uses the ERP functionality to have a precise follow-up of costs and correlate them with the budgets allocated by the various financing.
The company installed the software in 2016, and has kept up to date with each new release. Most departments now use it. New functionalities requested, and now available, have been integrated into the company’s workflow, and allow the optimisation of work capacities. This capability means the CMMS module is responsible for managing requests and the follow-up of maintenance interventions within the company. The workshop is also equipped with WorkPlan and has numerous touchscreens for employee management, such as staff input/output, business clocking in/out or incident reporting via CMMS.
IT manager Sébastien Fraquet says: “WorkPlan is the backbone that allows us to structure our services. It can be found at every level of the company. We manage everything with it, from quotation to final invoicing, including purchasing management, non-conformity management and personnel management.”
By using all the modules, different departments can know the costs being generated and react quickly to preserve and increase the company’s profitability.
“Thanks to the real-time stock availability and the calculation of net requirements, the orders placed are extremely accurate,” says Fraquet. “Another important feature, the ‘Order Status’ module, is essential for determining that the production work in progress is sent quarterly to administrative and financial management. We need to know how much we’re getting back for everything we have on the shop floor, both in terms of hours spent on the job, and volume of purchases. This allows us to know the value of the company.”
The software permits Loiretech to issue constant balance sheets and develop new business using existing information in its database.
“We can use old estimates as a knowledge base, and adapt them to make similar projects profitable, time after time,” says Fraquet.
The third Hexagon solution contributing to Loiretech Ingénierie’s Industry 4.0 philosophy, is the high-speed CAD viewer, WorkXplore, which allows the company to open all types and sizes of CAD files in use, and import and analyse them at high speed.
“The sales and projects departments open CATIA and other CAD files with WorkXplore in order to analyse and cost projects. In addition, the workshop uses it for assembly and measurements. Some vital information isn’t visible on 2D plans, but thanks to the workshop having the full 3D file, we avoid additional costs caused by assembly non-conformities. The subcontracting department also uses WorkXplore as some parts of their tooling are machined elsewhere – they send 3D files by email, add annotations to the files and make quick dimensional drawings to ensure the subcontractor has all the necessary information.”
Loiretech’s use of three Hexagon products to integrate its former individual business silos is a good example of how the Industry 4.0 philosophy creates data-driven smart factories, giving a new level of insight and solutions which improve efficiency and quality, while reducing costs.
For further information www.worknc.com
A 20-year-old CNC machining apprentice is playing a key role in manufacturing over 150,000 critical turned parts for the NHS.
Jacob Benton, who is studying towards his HNC Level 4 with In-Comm Training, is working around the clock with the manufacturing team at Cannock-based Key Precision to produce up to nine different components for use in ventilators being built for the frontline.
The young engineer has programmed three different CNC machines to create five oxygen supply line parts, completing the complex task in just a few hours of receiving the order so the company can meet urgent timelines set by the consortium.
Key Precision is a specialist manufacturer of precision turned parts, inserts for plastic and sheet-metal fasteners, supplying high-profile customers such as Aston Martin, Bentley, JCB and Rolls-Royce. The company, which employs 25 people, has worked with In-Comm Training for more than 20 years, accessing upskilling courses and forklift training for its workforce.
Greg Jackson, engineering and quality director at Key Precision, adds his support: “We are big fans of growing our own talent and actively look to recruit budding engineers who want to go to the very top of our business. Jacob is a prime example. From the minute he stepped on to the shop floor, he has shown a real appetite to learn from his peers, attack new challenges and use his own initiative to come up with solutions.
“In-Comm Training has given him a fantastic grounding in engineering and the ability to continue learning with our support,” adds Jackson. “He really has been instrumental in the ventilator project.”
For further information www.in-comm.co.uk
