Metal Information Center

CNC machining cell shortens lead-times

February 23, 2008 – 10:37 am

Aerospace manufacturing company’s investment in a flexible machining cell will increase profitability and flexibility and will be able to offer a rapid turnaround for components

Aerospace specialist RE Thompson, based in Whitchurch, Hampshire, UK aimed to achieve a step change in its manufacturing methods and productivity. The company has been using Mori Seiki machines, and before that, Hitachi Seiki machines for 18 years. Managing director of RE Thompson, Michael Thompson, said, ‘We wanted to grow our business by 100%, and we could not achieve this with our existing equipment, leading us to re-evaluate every aspect of our business and methodology including batch sizes, machine tools, fixtures, clamping, inspection and tooling.’ In the first phase of reorganization, RE Thompson installed a Mori Seiki NH5000 40 DCG horizontal machining centre with a 12 pallet Fastems Flexible Pallet Magazine and a Zoller CNC tool presetting machine.
A second Mori Seiki and Fastems combination will follow at the beginning of 2008, closely followed by a third and fourth.

Thompson added, ‘Mori Seiki has such a wide range of equipment, it was unnecessary to look elsewhere.

Furthermore, we have an excellent relationship with them and the machines are accurate and reliable.’ The confidence for this move comes from the long term visibility of aerospace projects and the close working partnership which RE Thompson maintains with its customers.

The company aims to transfer most of its production onto the new Mori Seiki and Fastems systems, which will each do the work of four conventional CNC machines, said Mori Seiki to manufacturingtalk.com.

The immediate benefit is the economic machining of batches of just five components.
Previously, batches were around 50-off to compensate for setting times.

Matthew Shaw, business development manager at RE Thompson, explained some of the advantages.

‘When we had to manufacture large batches, the components would remain in storage until the customer required them, and if a design change occurred this could not be reflected in the manufactured parts.

Additionally, planning to meet sudden changes in production requirements was very complex.’ With the introduction of the Mori Seiki’s, storage costs have been eliminated, design iterations can be incorporated immediately, and the company can be responsive to changing delivery priorities.

Each Mori Seiki horizontal machining centre has 240 tools and 12 pallets fitted with ‘tombstone’ fixtures, presenting 48 faces for machining.

RE Thompson chose a horizontal machine, as around 90% of each part can be reached at each setting, making it possible to complete parts in two settings.

Such work could have taken up to six set-ups on a vertical machining centre.

The company has put a considerable amount of effort into re-engineering its methods to maximise the benefit it gets from its Mori Seiki and Fastems systems.

Thompson said, ‘We maximise jobs on each pallet, rationalise the tooling and reprogram the part to enable us to stay within the 240 tool limit.

That way we can ensure each pallet is machining for at least one hour, optimising the efficiency of the machine.

Similarly we also try to arrange for parts which are in the same assembly or family to be located on the same fixture, simplifying our ability to meet production requirements.

We are planning to achieve a 50% reduction in total component cycle time’.

The drive for efficiency means that each machine only needs reloading with components at its two docking stations on a 12h day shift, allowing unmanned machining over the weekend and 24/7 production.

Further savings come from the on machine probing, which automatically checks some of the key component dimensions and verifies the condition of the tooling before each operation.

Installing the Mori Seiki and Fastems systems will introduce ‘just in time’ machining, which extends to the company’s suppliers.

The efficiency improvements and the investment programme has also had a positive impact on RE Thompson’s relationship with its customers, enabling it to achieve cost down targets and build their confidence in the continuity of supply of high quality products.

Thompson concluded, ‘The investment in Mori Seiki and Fastems will enable us to grow our long term profitability, increase our flexibility and enable us to offer our customers a rapid turnaround for their jobs, achieving a step change in our business’.

* About RE Thompson - RE Thompson can trace its roots back to 1948, designing and manufacturing leak testing equipment and vacuum valves.

The move to aerospace subcontracting occurred in the 1980s and since then it has proved its expertise within this field, attracting major clients including GE Aviation, Thales, Jabil, Eldec and Tyco.