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A Catalyst for Growth in the Precision Sheet Metal Sector - C&F Tooling
Visiting Bridgeport Machines Ltd in England, Kevin Gladney, Listers’ CNC Metal Cutting Division Manager saw a demonstration of the Viper VMC1000 5 axis turbine blade grinding cell and recognised that it could be of interest to one of his customers - Waterford based Honeywell Engines and Systems, manufacturers of rotating and stationary aircraft engine components for business and regional jets.
Derek Kennedy, Production Manager, Cold Section Airfoils CoE at Honeywell takes up the story: "It was October/November 1999, when one of my engineers came along and said that he had received a call from Kevin Gladney, telling him about a new piece of equipment on show at Bridgeport and that it could be of interest to us.
Kevin wanted to call in and tell us about a high speed-grinding unit that had been developed between Bridgeport, Rolls Royce and Raysun. I was willing to listen and arranged a meeting that afternoon.
The following morning two of my engineers were on the first flight out of Dublin to see the machine being demonstrated. They reported back and we realised that with the Viper we could possibly do away with the 8 production steps we were using, requiring long set times and technical support to make the root attachment on turbine blades. The Viper being a flexible method of manufacture uses one piece setting reducing labour input by 50 – 60% with a very significant cost take up for the whole operation and because we have got extra business it can be used for additional capacity.
Before committing to buying, we set up a trial to have the capability of the machine demonstrated using our components under our own parameters. Based on the excellent findings of the initial trials we proceeded to put in for capital requisition to proceed with the project.
In the short time the Viper has been installed it has demonstrated a greater capability than the older process. Listers’ identified a product for the aerospace market and came here because we are an aerospace company. We have been impressed by the very high level of competency in their sales expertise, whilst the advice and direction we have received has been excellent, and also the training we have received as part of the overall package has been top class."
The Viper VMC 1000 is a very flexible cell with 40-metres/minute rapid feed in X and Y-axis and 30 metres/minute rapid feed in Z axis with 6 metres per second acceleration.
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