High Demand Creates Growth in Aerospace Industry
The combined results of a strong global growth of both passenger and freight air transport demand followed by strong demand for new aircraft and increasing competition between aircraft manufacturers should point to a robust aerospace market for years to come.
Michael Guckes
Chief Economist & Director of Analytics, Gardner Intelligence
IT is the Key to Effective Machine Monitoring
This aerospace manufacturer’s IT team was essential to successfully setting up a machine monitoring program.
Flexible Manufacturing System Reduces Machining Times for Aerospace Parts
Orizon Aerostructures’ flexible manufacturing system, made up of nine Ecospeed five-axis machines from Starrag, is helping the company make more money producing complex aerospace parts.
Shop’s Growth Takes Off by Supplying Aircraft Parts Directly
The process of gaining approval to supply aircraft parts to Boeing directly was long and difficult for Automatic Products, but the potential growth and stability have made the journey worthwhile.
Aerospace Roundup: Are OEMs Consolidating Suppliers?
Production Machining interviews six industry veterans to ask about an aerospace manufacturing trend that involves OEMs consolidating suppliers to get a feel for what this means for the future of their businesses.
Capitalizing on the Benefits of Aluminum
As easy as aluminum may be to work with, it still comes with its own set of concerns, including those related to chip control and surface finish.
How Metallurgical Structure Affects the Machinability of Aluminum
Advancements in grain structure consistency and mechanical properties help to make this extremely machinable metal suitable for an ever growing range of applications.
Advances in Swiss-Type Technology
R&D efforts in recent years have led to higher efficiencies, increased agility and expanded capabilities for shops performing Swiss-type turning.
Russ Willcutt
Associate Editor, Production Machining
White Papers for Aerospace Machining
Two white papers from machine tool distributor and automation integrator Gosiger Inc. explain the capabilities required of CNC machine shops that wish to enter the aerospace market.
Survey Shows Positive Outlook on North American Manufacturing
MFG.com recently released the results of its MFGWatch survey targeting 8,840 sourcing professionals throughout North America. The results indicate that 2013 is going to be a year of growth.
Considerations for Machining Exotics
In manufacturing, the term “exotic” is used to describe materials that display excellent wear characteristics, durability and service life in high heat, extreme cold or corrosive environments.
Consistency with Indirect Extrusion
A return to basics, paired with extensive research, proved instrumental in the enhancements of this aluminum rod and bar manufacturer’s product line.
Cutting a Micron at a Time
When the task is to remove very small amounts of material, this process may be the answer.
Tooling up for Micromachining
Choosing the right tools and matching them to the correct operations and process techniques for micromachining applications is critical to success in this burgeoning market.
Filling Bins While the Building is Empty
Over the past decade, technology has advanced to the point that lights-out machining is more seamless than ever
before, with built-in safety systems and even the ability to switch from one part to another in the middle of the night.
Russ Willcutt
Associate Editor, Production Machining
Dealing with a Materials Shortage
Materials suppliers discuss strategies for coping with the supply challenges of today's market.
Aqueous Cleaner for Aircraft Composites
The Boeing Company and Spirit AeroSystems have approved Petroferm’s CleanSafe 787C aqueous cleaner for use on carbon fiber reinforced plastics.
Single Pass Honing System with Automatic Tool Wear Compensation
Single pass honing, also referred to as diamond bore sizing, is a good way to produce parts economically when the bore is small or has thin-walled members that need to be honed.
Machining Exotics
Production machining has changed from large runs of parts carved out of free machining materials to smaller runs of parts from much more difficult to machine materials. Learn how to adjust to this challenge.
Titanium Machine-Ready Blanks
TCI Precision Metals’ titanium machine-ready blanks that cut the overall cost of producing parts are available in custom sizes from plate to forged block.
Switching Material Improves Productivity, Bar None
Serving the exacting and specialized requirements of the medical implant industry requires manufacturers to not only use the most precise, state-of-the-art metalworking equipment, but also high quality raw materials, including precision ground bar capable of offering tight dimensional tolerances and exceptional diameter uniformity.
Cutting Tools for Titanium, Aluminum and Composite Aerospace Components
The company offers a range of Cyclo Cut cutting tools and Cyclo Cool metalworking fluids designed and blended for all aspects of aerospace machining.
Universal Lathe Improves Turning Capability
Peter Brotherhood (Peterborough, United Kingdom), a steam turbine manufacturer, recently discovered a bottleneck when turning a range of power-generation components. When the company implemented a Gildemeister CTX 620 V4 linear universal turn-mill center by DMG, however, the problem fixed itself.
Straight From The Source
Seeing the cold drawing process up close can provide an entirely new appreciation of the barstock used in a shop. Here's how one mill makes the most of the process.
Good Investment Casting
An increasing number of shops that make metal parts that are intricate, require extensive machining or are produced repetitively or in limited quantities, are finding that investment casting is the ideal solution.
Drafting New Players For Swiss Precision
Consistent operations play a big part in attaining high productivity. That’s why, as a shop grows (as this Swiss shop has), it should look to add machines—and employees—that complement each other.
Material Impacts On The Precision Machining Industry
The International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) reports that stainless steel production rose in 2006. Crude stainless steel production in Asia and now produces more than half of all stainless steel in the world. The Americas increased their stainless steel production. China's trade surplus versus the U.S. amounted to $23.76 billion in February 2007 according to China Customs quoted in several press reports. This is the second highest level ever, and is 10 times the February 2006 level of $2.5 billion!
