VALENCIA, Calif., May 17, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerospace Dynamics International, Inc. (ADI) will increase production of titanium parts for the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 with two new MAG 5-spindle Ti profilers, ordered in the first quarter of 2011. The new machines are part of a $100 million expansion that includes two recently delivered MAG U5 universal machining centers, two MC 1600 boring mills and MAG's Freedom eLOG monitoring software. The two newest machine tools join 32 other mostly MAG profilers at the facility, including a five-gantry multi-spindle system on 210-foot rail, and two three‑gantry multi-spindle systems on 234-foot rails. Aerospace Dynamics International is also planning to acquire two additional MAG 5-spindle Ti profilers, as well as two 5-spindle wide-range machining centers with 50-taper tools.
"The new MAG profilers, and others like them in our shop, simply make us more competitive in the global aerospace machining market," said ADI President and CEO John Cave. "With these machines we can complete up to five parts per setup, and always have the spindles making chips while new workpieces are being setup in another work zone, which minimizes out-of-cut time. In machining titanium, a single-spindle machine is limited to about the same speeds and feeds as our profilers, and even with a fast toolchanger, a single-spindle machine is no match for one that completes five hard-metal parts in the same cycle. We get five parts in the same cycle time that a single-spindle needs for one part. That's productivity enhancing performance that we pass on to our customers." ADI also purchased tooling and applications support from MAG's Productivity Solutions business to ensure world-class productivity in machining titanium.
ADI is an award-winning Tier One supplier of structural and assembled components for a who's-who of OEMs, including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus, NASA, Spirit and others. One of its specialties is large, complex titanium parts. The company's volume has been increasing steadily in recent years, with legacy work on Boeing 737 and 777 and Airbus A380 and A330 programs all increasing in rates, according to Cave. ADI also supports Boeing's 787 program. "We're acquiring these profilers for new work – production of larger structural assemblies for the Airbus A350," he explained. The new profilers are designed for high metal removal rates with titanium, which further improves our competitive position in pursuing this work."
ADI's expansion program includes a new 120,000-sq-ft building that will house a 60,000-sq-ft assembly hall, as well as increased engineering and inspection resources. The company also recently acquired two MAG 5-axis U5 rail-type universal machining centers and two MC 1600 boring mills with pallet shuttles. "The U5 5-axis contouring head provides a balance of agility, speed and power for us to cut aluminum skins for the GE 115 aft engine cowl assembly for the 777, which helped justify the machine," Cave added. "We've also used it in some unique machining of titanium parts for the F-35, A350 and 787, as well as some of our own tooling."
The U5 machines included MAG's machine/production monitoring software known as eLOG, a tool to enhance overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). "Our OEE already exceeds 90 percent, but our manufacturing people are always looking to improve and they expect to achieve 100 percent with this software," Cave added.
CONTACT: Mark Angne MAG 859-534-4685 mangne@mag-ias.com
