A seventh 5-axis machining centre has been installed at Preston-based, tier-2 aerospace subcontractor, TGM, primarily to cope with increasing volumes of Airbus A350 work.
Two years ago, each month the firm was delivering four port and starboard aircraft wing sets comprising 20 parts each, whereas today 10 sets per month are required and the number will climb further over the next two years.
The latest addition to the firm's 5-axis capacity is a Hurco VMX42SRTi, with conversational programming built into its WinMax control system.
The Hurco VMX42SRTi, with its over one metre X-axis travel and 610 mm movement in Y and Z, meets the needs of producing smaller parts for Airbus A350 wings, such as ribs, intercostals and brackets. All components are aluminium except for one, which is machined from titanium billet.
Over two-thirds of TGM's throughput is destined for Airbus, with the remainder going mainly into the Boeing supply chain, notably for the 787 Dreamliner. This prime's build rates are also rising, so all of the machining centres at Preston including the Hurcos are very busy.
Steve Holmes, the subcontractor's operations director explained, "One advantage of the Hurco 5-axis SRTi design is that the fifth axis is provided by a ± 90 degree swivelling spindle head, so you do not lose Z-axis travel as on a machine with a trunnion-mounted rotary table. The configuration fitted well with our need to produce 40 Airbus T-pieces per month that are over 30 cm tall.
"The other thing we like about the machine is that we can ignore the flush rotary table and lay a large component across the full 1.27-metre fixed table for 3-or 4-axis machining. Alternatively there are Op 1 / Op 2 to opportunities. The machine provides a lot of versatility."
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