w AEROSPACE FOCUS
AE Aerospace wins £3.6m Airbus parts contract
Machining for the Airbus parts
will be carried out on Mazak machines
West Midlands-based AE
Aerospace has won its
largest order after securing
a £3.6m contract supplying
complex machined actuation parts
for the Airbus A220 single-aisle
aircraft programme, as part of a
three-year deal.
The company says machining
will be carried out on Mazak
VARIAXIS machines (www.is.
gd/9JVWKH).
This contract will see AE
Aerospace growing back to the
sales levels seen in 2019 and
ensure it can maintain employment
for skilled staff, while providing
additional supply chain work in the
West Midlands. It expects the order
book to continue to grow in 2021.
The investment in improved
machining resulted in a price
reduction for the customer.
AE Aerospace has invested
heavily in its people, technologies,
and processes over the last 12
months. It is the rst UK SME to
deploy a 5G private network and
will work with WM5G, W5G and its
technology partner BT, on three
On the rise Five high precision jig boring machines for aerospace
A new chapter has been
written at Summit Engineering
Ltd after it introduced its rst
5-axis Mazak CV5-500
machine ( www.
is.gd/9JVWKH ).
The Birmingham-based rm
says that the investment in the
precision machining
equipment, expands its
capabilities and aligns with
investments made last year in
Mazak 250MYs and a Mazak
VTC-760C.
Summit manufactures a
range of components for the
aerospace industry and for
other industries.
new 5G use cases set to transform
manufacturing productivity.
In trialling 5G, the rm hopes to
attain signi cant bene ts, including
the ability to maximise machine
time, provide more accurate
assurance that parts have been
machined to speci cation with
increased speed and ef ciency, as
well as being able to eliminate the
need to re-work or replace
damaged components impaired in
transit.
AE Aerospace says it aspires “to
set a precedent” to bring the SME
aerospace sector forward and into
line in terms of on-time, in full
delivery.
As part of the move, it is
experimenting with 5G to improve
‘Product Quality Assurance’ by
eliminating the need to re-work or
replace damaged components. By
utilising a private 5G network, realtime
ultra-high de nition image
comparison can take place to
ensure product quality assurance
prior to shipping to customers.
Ultimately, the goal is to make
the journey for customers as easy
as possible and so it has also been
working closely with The Advanced
Services Group to develop a Glass
Factory Model – meaning
customers can see processes and
the factory oor. It will offer
machining by the hour, where
customers take a long-term
contract for the number of machine
hours required per month, allowing
them to have their own operating
cells and directly in uence the
manufacturing sequence of their
orders, safe in the knowledge that
they will have suf cient capacity.
AE Aerospace has also invested
in processes to facilitate the
continual growth of the business
through PowerMill - a 3D-CAM
package - that allows of ine
programming of complex prismatic
components. The introduction has
enabled the rm to take on more
complex designs, as well as being
able to determine run times and
improve our inspection process.
Alongside this, Fusion360 has
also improved the engraving
process and improved visuals. This
has increased manufacturing
ef ciency greatly because it is able
to visualise the machining route of
parts in real-time, preventing
possible collisions.
Starrag Group company ( www.
is.gd/VsGcno ) SIP is assembling
a series of high precision jig
boring machines for installation
by multiple customers in the
aerospace industry.
The ve machines – comprising
a four-axis horizontal model and
the remainder three-/ ve-axis
vertical designs – are scheduled
for commissioning during the
second half of 2021.
Machines will be used to
produce gearboxes, structural
components and satellite
guidance systems. SIP says they
been chosen as they “consistently
produce high precision, right- rsttime
results over many
time years, with no material
wastage – even after
resetting to suit
different/redesigned
workpieces”.
The quartet of
vertical machines
under construction will
accommodate
workpieces weighing
ranging from 2,500 to 4,000 kgs,
and have clamping surfaces from
1,200 mm by 900 mm to 1,700
mm by 1,200 mm. The horizontal
machine will handle components
weighing up to 4,000 kgs on a
clamping surface of 1,200 mm by
The ve machines under construction
at SIP’s Vuadens, Switzerland-based factory
1,200 mm.
The standard spindle rating is
6,000 revs/min, but optional
8,000 revs/min spindles are
available. All of the vertical
models have automatic tool
changers, and two have highpressure
through-coolant.
46 February 2021 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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