Answering with Automation

As a shop that specializes in the production of high-precision aerospace components, Chicopee Manufacturing, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, has built a worldwide reputation working with titanium and other difficult-to-machine metals. To do so, it has developed efficient systems for producing low-volume assemblies that include a wide variety of precision parts. In addition, it has built much of that success on flexibility and automation.
 

The design of Chicopee’s automated cell is to produce high-mix, low-volume titanium components for advanced military and commercial aircraft.

"Almost everything we do is based on our use of flexible manufacturing systems (FMS)," says Rick Moes, president, Chicopee. "With the wide variety of parts and assemblies we produce every day, and the small batches that the work demands, our equipment have to be flexible in order to be productive."

Most recently, Chicopee has added to that flexibility with the installation of a Makino machining cell built around an MMC-R (Makino Machining Complex with Robot) automated fixture plate distribution system. Designed to produce components for some of the most advanced aircraft in the world, the cell is helping Chicopee maintain its strong position in today's marketplace, while positioning it for continued success in the future.
 

Who is Chicopee?
Founded more than 50 years ago as a general-purpose machine shop in Kitchener, Ontario, near Toronto, Chicopee soon found itself in the aerospace business, producing components for prototypes of Canada's Arrow fighter jet. The Arrow never moved into full production, but Chicopee had found its niche. Throughout the years, Chicopee developed advanced expertise in machining titanium and other hard metals, as well as in producing complex parts and assemblies for aerospace customers around the world.

In 1998, Chicopee's purchase by Magellan Aerospace Corporation, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada – one of the most integrated and comprehensive aerospace industry suppliers in the world – Chicopee's opportunities grew even further. Today, as a key division in Magellan's global network, Chicopee produces advanced components for such aerospace giants as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Airbus, as well as customers in other industries such as power generation.
 

Expertise + Automation
"Aerospace engineering is constantly evolving," says Chicopee Technical Director Dave Quehl, in describing the challenges his company faces. "To keep ourselves competitive in the marketplace, we have to evolve with it, and that includes developing new expertise in machining advanced materials like titanium – and new expertise in making all our processes more efficient. In many cases, we are finding that efficiency through automation, and we have been very successful in working with Makino to develop the automation systems we need."

Designed for machining tough and hard materials, the a81M is ideally suited for large diameter boring and face milling on materials such as stainless steel, titanium alloys, and more.

One example is an automated machining cell, built around six Makino A55 horizontal machining centers, originally installed at Chicopee in 1998.

"We needed a true FMS system that could perform precision machining on a wide variety of parts every day, and keep parts moving through the system efficiently," Quehl explains. "We have everything we need with the A55 cell."

The initial cell design was to produce components for complex wing assemblies for Boeing, but it has since been adapted to a variety of applications, including power-generation components.

"The high cost of the raw materials we work with means we cannot have a lot of inventory sitting around the shop," Quehl says. "For the wing assemblies, our just-in-time system means we receive a shipment every day with all the raw materials we needed to produce the parts for one aircraft – 34 different parts. Every day the cell produces those parts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for more than five years. The Makino cell controller handles more than 200 individual shop orders per week – assigning roughing and finishing processes among the machines; ensuring use of each machine in the most efficient manner possible.

"Over the years, we have achieved similar productivity with the cell on a wide variety of jobs. The Makino cell has proven to be a very versatile, very productive system. That success played a large role in our decision to invest in the new robot system."
 

The Advantage
Chicopee's newest Makino machining cell is comprised of two a81M horizontal machining centers with 5-axis rotary tables and a Makino MMC-R robotic fixture plate distribution system. Control of the cell is by a Makino MAS-A5 cell controller.

Design of the cell is to meet the needs of long-term contracts to produce titanium structural frame components for advanced military and commercial aircraft, including Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. Chicopee has worked with the manufacturers throughout the development of the aircraft and is now preparing to take the components from the development phase into production.

At the heart of the cell are its a81M 5-axis machining centers, which provide the machining flexibility, power, and precision the titanium parts demand. The a81M's rotary workhead permits the spindle to reach virtually every surface on a part without requiring refixturing. With its 8,000rpm spindle speed, and more than 1,000Nm of torque (the highest torque, Quehl notes, of all the machines at Chicopee), the a81M has the power and speed necessary to work with the toughest metals. Spindle integration with the drive motor's rotor reduces vibration during high-speed operation, while increasing acceleration and deceleration. Spindle acceleration to top speed in just 2.4 seconds, reducing non-cut time substantially. High-pressure (1,000psi), high-volume (20gpm) through the tool cooling, and a center-trough design quickly remove large quantities of chips while providing enhanced reliability in continuous machining. Currently installed in the cell are two a81M machining centers, with plans to add three more as orders for production aircraft ramp up.
 

MMC-R Automation
Support for the a81M machining centers come from Makino's MMC-R automation system. The system includes the 6-axis robot, mounted on a 7th-axis floor track; two worksetting stations; innovative fixture plates that enable the cell to make full use of the robot and reduce part fixture costs; seven fixture plate racks, each capable of storing 16 fixture plates for a total of 112 plates; and Makino's MAS-A5 cell controller.

The cell operator secures a part to a fixture plate and programs the part and fixture-plate numbers into the cell controller. This initiates and monitors all robot transfers among the work-setting stations, storage racks, and machining centers, as well as controlling the machining operations themselves.

This automation system is ideally suited to 5-axis applications, such as Chicopee's, that involve high product mix and low-volume production runs. It enables Chicopee to operate efficiently by increasing spindle utilization and reducing setup times through accurate and reliable machine loading, unloading, and part storage.

The fixture plate design uses Delphin interfaces to provide secure transfer between the robot gripper and the machine tombstone, delivering accurate and repeatable part production. By using the fixture plates in place of complete machine pallets, Chicopee benefits from reduced part fixture costs.

"These are complex parts that require full 5-axis machining," Quehl notes. "The smaller fixture plates enable us to center-mount them for full tool access. At the same time, they save on the cost of the fixtures themselves, and on the amount of space required to store the plates in the cell."

The Makino MAS-A5 cell controller coordinates all production scheduling of the fixture-plate transfers, monitors the schedules, and issues appropriate transfer tasks to the robot. The machining centers are fitted with a Balluff read-write tool system interfaced to a Zoller presetter, as well as part probing, to ensure each operation produces a part within the tight tolerances the components require. All data passes through the cell controller, automating and ensuring the accuracy of the entire process.

"The controller was one of the cell's biggest selling points," Quehl says. "We have had years of good experience with it in the A55 cell. Applying that knowledge and experience to the implementation of this cell, and the MAS-A5 controller is capable of keeping pace with any technical innovations or changes in our needs that might present themselves in the future."
 

Positioned for the Future
Chicopee continues to refine the cell's capabilities and efficiency as it prepares for the fast-approaching ramp-up to many years of full production.

"We are working every day to optimize our processes and advance our expertise in titanium processing," Quehl states. "As production quantities continue to increase, we will be ready to add more machining centers and more storage racks, and we will be able to do it with the confidence that the cell will be more than up to the task. We are always looking for more ways to take advantage of the cell's capabilities with new contracts, new customers, and new opportunities. Automation is absolutely both the present and the future for high-precision machining of demanding materials such as titanium, and demanding markets such as the aerospace industry."

Chicopee Manufacturing Kitchener, Ontario
magellanaerospace.com

Makino Mason, OH
makino.com