This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
Technology in Action


well as for defense aircraſt such as the Chinook helicopter and C17 transport plane. Part sizes produced can vary from small clips 2" (51-mm) square to large airframe components up to 160" (4.1 m) in length. Since its start in 1962, Hansen has always provided its


Tier One aerospace industry customers with high precision, quality and competitively priced airframe and jet engine parts delivered on time. However, it was only a few years ago that the shop was able to also provide the same for the more- challenging jobs and still turn a profit. Te strategy that made this possible, according to Hansen CEO Jody Lay, was advanced manufacturing technology that not only increased production efficiency for all the shop’s jobs—both the easy and the challenging ones—but also allowed for lights-out untended part processing.


torque (1042 ft-lb or 1413 N•m max) for cutting the shop’s hard metal parts. Te machine is also outfitted with Mazak’s Super Flow V8M Variable High-Pressure Coolant System that allows for increased cutting speeds, extends tool life and makes for ef- ficient chip evacuation in heavy metal removal operations. As a multitasking machine, Hansen’s Integrex e-1060V/8 II


allows for milling and turning operations for single setup part processing. Its high-torque 5000-rpm, 50-hp main milling spindle with through-coolant provides a B-axis tilting range of -30/+120°, while its full C-axis table features 360° rotation, 500 rpm and 50 hp for part contouring. With the Integrex e-1060V/8 II, Hansen easily machines


hard-to-reach part features without having to unclamp and reposition parts. Tis capability also helps the shop hold part tolerances that can be as tight as ± 0.0004" (0.01 mm).


“We realized well in advance a need to automate and machine parts lights out.”


Te technology Lay referred to is a fully automated Pal-


letech System from Mazak Corp. consisting of two CNC machining centers, a rail-guided pallet-transferring vehicle, part load/unload station and multiple pallet-stocking sta- tions. According to Lay, the cell has been critical to the shop’s cumulative growth of 30% since 2008 and its ability to take on more troublesome jobs, which currently amount to 20% of the shop’s total workload. And Lay said that percentage continues to increase. Because of the Palletech System’s flexibility, it provides


increased efficiency to all production needs whether they are high-mix low-volume, high-mix medium-volume—as is the case at Hansen—or high-volume operations. Te system is compatible with Mazak’s wide range of Horizontal Machining Centers (HMCs) and available in single, double and triple- level pallet-stocker configurations. Tere can be as many as 16 machines, six to 20 pallets and up to eight loading stations in one Palletech System. For its Palletech System, Hansen initially started with a


five-axis Mazak Integrex e-1060V/8 II Multi-Tasking Machin- ing Center, the load/unload station, pallet-transferring vehicle and 12 pallet-stocker stations. But because the Palletech System is modular in design and pre-engineered, it allowed Hansen to easily and cost effectively grow the system. It now accommodates the second machine—a Mazak


Horizontal Center Nexus (HCN) 8800-II HMC—as well as provides space for a future Integrex e-1060V. Additionally, it now has a 16-pallet stocker capacity with room to expand that amount to 36 if needed when the third machine is installed. For its HCN 8800-II, Hansen had the machine equipped


with a high-torque 6000-rpm, 50-hp (37.3-kW) through-cool- ant spindle that delivers 591 ft-lb (801.4 N•m) of continuous


72 Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing 2013 “Te repeatability of both the machines is phenomenal,”


said Lay. “Once we know our programming and tooling is good, we don’t worry about the Mazaks, and they give us good parts every time. Plus, they both feature 120-tool storage capacities for extended run times.” Currently, the Palletech cell runs, for the most part, non-


stop during Hansen’s two 10 to 12-hour daily shiſts, six days a week. And key to the system’s untended operations, Lay said, is the reliability, precision and performance of the Mazak machine tools. As cell efficiency continues to surge, Hansen will soon run


its Palletech manufacturing system 24 hours per day, seven days a week in a completely untended, lights-out operation. “In deciding to incorporate the Palletech System, we real-


ized well in advance a need to automate and machine parts lights-out, especially to be competitive in processing those challenging parts,” said Lay. “In the past, we’ve always used twin-pallet machines to increase production, so the move to the Palletech System was a natural and easy transition. Now, part-processing times involve only actual machining. Setup time is a non-factor because we keep the system’s 800-mm square and round pallets stored and ready with fixtures and simply cue them up with the robot when the job runs. We also keep a couple pallets open for new incoming work as well and for handling the occasional emergency rush job.” He went on to say, “We’ve improved profit margins on


every job run through the Palletech System and have actually passed on to our customers some cost reductions as a result. Tat is huge for us because we are constantly under pres- sure to reduce costs. If an aerospace shop in today’s industry doesn’t continue to do so, it won’t be working for any major OEMs very long.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271  |  Page 272  |  Page 273  |  Page 274  |  Page 275  |  Page 276  |  Page 277  |  Page 278  |  Page 279  |  Page 280  |  Page 281  |  Page 282  |  Page 283  |  Page 284  |  Page 285  |  Page 286  |  Page 287  |  Page 288  |  Page 289  |  Page 290  |  Page 291  |  Page 292  |  Page 293  |  Page 294  |  Page 295  |  Page 296  |  Page 297  |  Page 298  |  Page 299  |  Page 300  |  Page 301  |  Page 302  |  Page 303  |  Page 304  |  Page 305  |  Page 306  |  Page 307  |  Page 308  |  Page 309  |  Page 310  |  Page 311  |  Page 312  |  Page 313  |  Page 314  |  Page 315  |  Page 316  |  Page 317  |  Page 318  |  Page 319  |  Page 320  |  Page 321  |  Page 322  |  Page 323  |  Page 324  |  Page 325  |  Page 326  |  Page 327  |  Page 328