vious manufacturing technology. Backward compatibility is necessary in some cases due to program certification, but new programs could gain significant improvement by utilizing the newer features available in modern systems. As Henry Ford said, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” It’s not that aerospace manufac- turing processes have been lacking as evident by the volume of excellent aircraſt produced over the years, but the processes could definitely be more efficient and cost effective.
Improve those RFQs Tird, the majority of RFQs and purchase specifications
are extremely vague and are the equivalent of simply specify- ing “a phone” or “a machine tool.” If a person walks into a store and asks to purchase just a “phone” they might end up being sold a basic old rotary phone instead of a shiny new, sophisticated and feature packed iPhone. Te rotary phone will work, but it will not be efficient in meeting your specific needs of today. Te same holds true for machine tools. “A
The aerospace industry has always been a little slow to adopt new technologies primarily due to the long build cycles.
In general, there are three simple steps that are oſten over-
looked and can improve your end result by making an enormous difference in aerospace manufacturing costs and efficiency: 1. Make the manufacturing process consistent across all equipment in a facility
2. Take advantage of available technology on existing machinery
3. Improve the Request For Quotes (RFQ) of new equipment to better meet manufacturing needs
Consistent Processes First, the majority of part- and equipment-related issues
at facilities are caused by inconsistency. Basic functions that work differently on two similar pieces of equipment sitting next to each other cause confusion and inevitably, a machine crash due to an “unexpected” event. Additionally, supporting different functionality for each piece of equipment is also very labor intensive and increases training and maintenance costs. To avoid this, do an audit of equipment functionality and parameterization. All equipment should have the same basic functionality and feature setup. You don’t have to do this your- self; leading control manufacturers will do this audit for free.
Fully Use Your Technology Second, there are many technologies available in equip-
ment that go unused primarily because the programming methodology is “what you’ve always done.” Features like Tool Center Point (TCP) and smoothing algorithms like High Speed Smooth TCP with Fairing have been around for a decade or more, but very few machines are using these kinds of motion functions. Quality machine tool builders and CNC manufacturers can help you take advantage of these features. So, aſter doing an audit of existing equipment, contact your preferred supplier to help you optimize the equipment already installed and take full advantage of the investment. It’s usually relatively easy to drastically reduce cycle time while improving surface finish if a few process changes are made and the effort is closely coordinated with the CNC experts.
machine tool” will cut parts, but will not be adequate to cut complex aerospace parts. Additionally, the ability to pur- chase sophisticated consumer electronics at the local store and the simplicity of setup has allowed the industry to lose sight of the realities involved with purchasing advanced aerospace manufacturing equipment. In reality, the majority of bid specifications and signoff
tests in the industry today are almost the same as they were 30 years ago. Te NAS machine runoff tests are outdated and do not verify nor validate most of the modern CNC and machine capabilities. A quality CNC vendor is a great, but rarely used, resource to help develop a purchase specification and test a plan to verify if the new equipment is properly configured. Very specific CNC functionality from basic interpolation to probing must be clearly defined in the bid specification with quality testing to verify functionality prior to purchase. Additionally, in the aerospace industry, it’s rare that any
two machines are identical so the serial number of the equip- ment is oſten a single digit, if not “1.” Because of this, there will be a few unexpected manufacturing defects that need to be overcome in machine tools, partly due to the complexity of the equipment, and mostly because the machine is likely the first of this exact configuration. When considering a sched- ule for purchase and installation of a machine tool, plan a conservative window for testing functionality and to allow for the unexpected issues that will occur not due to the quality of the builder or CNC manufacturer, but the custom nature of the equipment. Finally, partner with the best experts you can find. Te
quality of the machine tool builder and CNC manufacturer is evident in the availability of resources and close engage- ment during the purchasing process and just as important, long aſter the purchasing process. So, if you want to improve your end result, follow the three steps above and definitely look closely at the technology and reliability of the machine tool and control you purchase. But, look even closer at the expertise of the support team behind the equipment—your end result depends on it. ✈
Aerospace & Defense Manufacturing 2013 97
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