Desktop Engineering (DTE), a leading engineering software solutions provider, has supplied Avon Valley Precision Engineering (AVPE), a high quality precision-engineered component manufacturer for the Aerospace industry, with CATIA V5 Airbus Manufacturing and an ICAM CAM-POST NC post-processing solution to enable it to optimise the 3, 4 and 5-axis milling capabilities of its existing CNC machinery.

Within the Aerospace sector, suppliers are being mandated to deploy CATIA manufacturing solutions and OEM's have taken the additional step of developing and documenting specific operational methodologies which their suppliers are required to adopt and operate to ensure that product information flows across their supplier base in a seamless fashion. To complement CATIA, DTE advised AVPE to implement ICAM's CAM-POST, a single source NC post-processing technology which supports all major CAD/CAM/PLM systems, CNC controllers and machine tools.

Steve Eccles, technical manager at AVPE, explains the purchasing rationale: “The requirement for CATIA is industry driven but what really made us choose DTE was their expertise in post-processing and in particular ICAM. Overall, we looked at four different suppliers, but DTE demonstrated a professionalism and level of insight that surpassed their competitors.”

For AVPE, CAM-POST delivers improvements to NC programmer productivity and manufacturing process efficiency, resulting in faster time to market. Its forward-looking optimization features include path planning, rotary axes pre-positioning and winding to optimise machining while avoiding dwell marks and over-travel. DTE wrote the post and commissioned it within a matter of days.

Eccles continued: “Our brief to DTE was to optimise our machining process. The market is very competitive so any small advantage is priceless. The CATIA/ICAM implementation has been quick and flawless and we estimate that it is now saving us more than 20% on machining time. In fact, DTE has developed a very good relationship with our programmers which resulted in additional benefits to us beyond the scope of the initial roll-out.”

With CATIA Airbus Manufacturing, programmers can easily switch between tool path definition and validation without losing time on data transfer or preparation. This eliminates interface issues and dramatically reduces overall manufacturing process time. By allowing for rapid tool-path computing, CATIA Machining optimises the fine-tuning and modification stages by integrating design and machining into a seamless environment.

With over 20 years of experience, AVPE supplies precision machined and formed components for the Aerospace and Defence markets. It is an approved supply chain partner to various Tier1 partners including Claverham, Cobham Group, GKN Aerospace, Magellan Aerospace, Martin Baker and Zodiac Aerospace.