The name of the game is change: when Tier 1 aerospace customers change the rules, a shop evolves to meet the demands

Modern Applications News, March, 2008

Being a contract machining supplier in the aerospace industry is like playing a game of survival of the fittest. If a shop is not evolving with the big guys, it is in danger of falling out of existence.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Hansen Engineering Company, Harbor City, CA, keeps up with the big dogs, although it struggled at times.

"We've been on a roller coaster ride, like a lot of companies," Jody Lay, Hansen CEO and president, said. "Our sales peaked at nearly $22 million, but in 2004 I wasn't sure we would make it. Today, we're doing great. At present we have 54 employees working in a 39,000 [ft.sup.2] facility, producing medium-sized aluminum and titanium parts for Tier 1 subcontractors for the most part. We've survived the worst of the aerospace evolution, and now we're looking forward to significant growth."

Lay said he remembers survival in the aerospace industry being easier in his 30-year career.

"In the good old days materials were more readily available," he said. But, that changed with competition.

"Where once Boeing and other American companies had virtual monopolies in the industry, there are Airbus and other European competitors now," Lay said. "Boeing and the others have evolved to deal with the competition. They've tightened the rules, and passed them to their first and second tier suppliers."

Lay feels that their message is plain: Change with us or you're out.

"We've changed," he said, and we're in.

The Right Equipment

The company evolved to meet industry demands by having the equipment needed to meet those demand. With the help of machine tools from Mazak Corp., Florence, KY, Hansen could provide bigger, more complex monolithic parts with higher precision, smoother finishes, faster deliveries, and reduced prices. By following the new rules of the aerospace industry, Hansen stayed in the game.

Hansen had been a Mazak shop since Lay inherited a shop with Mazak 3-axis VMCs. In those days, Hansen had a one-man, one-machine approach.

"That was the nature of machining then," Lay said. "But, with the increased demand for higher productivity and lower prices, I knew the company needed more advanced technology to survive."

"About six years ago I bought a Mazak dual-pallet Vortex 815 5-axis vertical-machining center. I so liked that machine that I bought a Vortex 1400."

Both machines are 50 hp, 10,000 rpm machines. The 815 has 120" x 31" x 24" X, Y, and Z travel. The 1400 has 165" x 55" x 24" travel. Pallets are 60" x 160" on the 1400 and both machines have 60-tool magazines.

"We're still operating these machines with the one-man, one-machine approach, but it's amazing what those machines can do," Lay said.

Hansen uses the Mazak Vortex machines to produce large aluminum and titanium aircraft parts such as struts, bulkheads, and structural members.

"I love the twin-pallet machines," Lay said. "Our productivity has just about doubled on every job we put on them. For instance, instead of running one part in an hour, it can run in half an hour or 40 minutes. A job that took 10 or 12 hours, now takes only five or six, and that's just cycle time."

"Setups are faster, too," he said. "If a part took an hour to run on a non-palletized machine, we'd be lucky to run five parts in 10 hours, because of all the setup time. We got 50 percent run-time efficiency. With the palletized machines, though, while one pallet is running, the operator is loading the other one. That way we get a lot more spindle running time with an efficiency of 75 percent or more."

Hansen runs two 12-hour shifts and produces a lot of parts on the Vortex machines.

New Project, New Machine

Hansen recently received a contract to produce a batch of large titanium parts, including bulkheads for Boeing's newest aircraft, the 787 Dreamliner.

"We start with 300 pounds of titanium and cut them down to 70-pound monolithic structures," he said. "This project requires we take a different approach, because machining titanium is slower than aluminum."

So far, Hansen can't use its Vortex machines to run lights-out.

"Our cycle times are too short," he said. "But titanium takes longer to run, so we've bought a Mazak Integrex 1060 V8-II e-machine with a 120-tool magazine and 12 pallets. It gives us new capabilities, plus the ability to run lights-out."

"The e-machine wasn't cheap," he said, "but that's because it's almost a complete manufacturing system all in one package. With the Integrex 1060 I'm getting a combination of information and manufacturing technology that's mind boggling. It's an advanced multi-tasking machine that lets us produce complete products in one setup, including turning, milling, boring, and drilling. It gives us a big jump on the competition."

Wait and Hurry Up

Currently, Lay said, aerospace industry delivery schedules are dictated by the availability of materials.

"Lead time for titanium is 100 weeks if bought in-contract," he said. "We paid more than half a million dollars for titanium out of contract, which would have cost $140,000 in contract. But, our customer needed the parts and was willing to pay, so we bought the material and made the parts."