Collective expertise

The combined experience and know-how of three engineering heavyweights enabled a leading aerospace sub-contractor to halve its run time on a project and, in the process, provided a perfect example of how teamwork can overcome manufacturing challenges.

Midland Aerospace - part of the Calder Group, a £150m pan-European engineering group with eight operating subsidiaries in five countries - is a specialist speed-shop manufacturer of small to medium sized complex structural parts for aerospace customers worldwide.

The company was working on a high-end structural component for a leading aerospace organisation, but needed to increase efficiency as Eamon Lyons, managing director of Midland Aerospace, explains: "The run time we previously had in creating the component was not acceptable and we needed to reduce it significantly."

After meeting Heller Machine Tools at the Farnborough Airshow, Midland Aerospace learned of their FT4000 five-axis machine based at Dormer's productivity centre in Sheffield, England. The facility is a unique workshop with the capacity to meet a variety of machining needs.

In combination with solid carbide tooling supplied by Dormer and the latest software from Open Mind, run time was reduced from 40 to less than 20 hours. This, in turn, brought further benefits as Mr Lyons points out, "this enabled us to win additional business and work on more projects."

"This is a perfect example," explained Matt Johnson, Dormer applications engineer, "of how the collaboration of expertise we have developed in the productivity centre can create a cost-effective return for businesses."

Ken Baldwin, Open Mind UK sales manager, added: ""This result may not have been as impressive without the high specification Heller FT4000, Dormer's new S356 Elect M carbide end mill and the overall project management and expertise on hand at Dormer's productivity centre."