ENGINE MRO DEVELOPMENTSpdfs.findtheneedle.co.uk/23514.pdf · Aerospace companies work hard to ensure high standards of production and inspection are maintained at all stages. This

The leading international magazine for the manufacturing and MRO sectors of commercial aviation

August - September 2011 Issue: 113 www.ubmaviationnews.com

n MRO FOCUS: CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

n CLOUD ARCHITECTURE BENEFITS EXPLAINED

n WHO ARE THE NEW NARROWBODY PLAYERS?

n NON-DESTRUCTIVE TESTING IN AVIATION

ENGINE MRO DEVELOPMENTSCHARTING THE BUSINESS CHANGES

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Most aircraft parts need to be of highquality material for safety and durabil-ity, and made to precise specifications

to fit into the complex workings of an aircraft.Certainly all must comply with AS9100 — thequality management standard for the aero-space industry.

Aerospace companies work hard to ensurehigh standards of production and inspectionare maintained at all stages. This is combinedwith a commitment to ensuring aircraft are pro-duced quickly and to specification to meet theneeds of their customers.

But there are times when aerospace com-panies don’t have the capabilities, expertise or

capacity to produce the components they need.This is often the case where a company needsvery accurate parts or small batches of spe-cialised components that don’t justify investingin new technology and training. It can also bebecause they need to produce more parts thanthey have capacity to create, or simply becausea machine has broken or staff are unavailable.In these cases, manufacturers have to rely onsubcontractors to provide these parts.

When you can’t do it in-house…Using an external organisation means relin-

quishing a level of control, which is always aconcern when standards are so high and so

❙ Aircraft Technology - Issue 113 ❙

Producing parts for the aircraft industry is a different world from most other industries. Everything that goesinto making an aircraft, from the screws to the engine components, has to meet stringent quality controlsfor safety. Compromising quality, which in other industries may be inconvenient, can be fatal in aerospace.

Subcontracting to theaircraft industry

ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE

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much is at stake. Aircraft manufacturers needto be confident that such organisations willmeet their own exacting standards and tightdeadlines.

Engineering companies that want cheapcomponents, where quality is not too impor-tant, can find them for next to nothing abroad,and it is very difficult for UK companies to com-pete with this. Within industries like aerospace,where components must be produced reliably,and on time, many companies find that thesecheaper components do not consistentlydeliver the quality they need for safety criticalapplications. Of course many suppliers inthese countries are fine, but uncertainty about

material certificates or quality standardsmeans such parts can be unreliable. As aresult, aircraft manufacturers expect to payslightly higher prices for suppliers which guar-antee quality and quick turnarounds.

One such company is Dawson PrecisionComponents (DPC), a precision engineeringcompany based in Greater Manchester, UK.Whilst it strives to offer competitive prices, itsmain selling point, says sales director PaulDawson, is a commitment to meeting the highexpectations of the aerospace industry andother industries where quality is more impor-tant than cost. It achieves this through contin-ued investment in new technology and staff. In



The Mitutoyo Crysta 7106 CNC co-ordinate measurement machine (CMM) allows inspection at incredible accuracies.

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the past few years it has spent more than £2mensuring it keeps up to date with the very lat-est machinery.

Simon Dawson, managing director of DPC,believes that a commitment to quality, and put-ting up the money to underpin this commit-ment, is what makes them so attractive to theaircraft industry. “There’s no secret formula tobeing a good subcontractor, it’s about investingin the latest equipment, training staff andmeeting industry standards,” he says. “It’sabout showing the industry you have the capa-bility to do the job, and then doing it to thestandard they expect.”

DPC has been called on to make a wide vari-ety of aircraft parts, from optical and cathoderay tube display components to replacementcockpit screws and fastenings. It makes spe-cialist fasteners, electronic housings, and air-craft seat fixings, amongst many other partswhich form the nuts and bolts of the aircraftindustry.

Finding a subcontractorThere is no shortage of subcontractors out

there but not all offer the specialist capabilitiesrequired by aircraft manufacturers. Paul

Dawson advises companies looking for sub-contractors to identify what they need — largeor small parts, degrees of accuracy, speed ofturnaround — and look for a company that fitsthe bill.

“The usual rules apply for identifying theright company; search the web, look for recom-mendations, read the manufacturing press, talkto other people in the industry. Once you’veidentified a likely candidate, call their cus-tomers and check that they would recommendthem.”

Aerospace subcontractors may make thingseasier by meeting AS9100, or more commonlyISO 9001:2008, the internationally recognisedstandard for the quality management of busi-nesses on which AS9100 is based. These qual-ifications are a good starting point, but evenwhen subcontractors can demonstrate thesestandards, it is usually necessary to carry outan audit to confirm they meet your specificrequirements. Your standards may well behigher than the industry baseline.

Audits should be carried out with the rigourthat an independent auditor would use. PaulDawson says: “Being audited by aerospacecompanies is like undergoing the ISO



The usual rules apply foridentifying the right company;search the web, look forrecommendations, read themanufacturing press, talk toother people in the industry.Once you’ve identified a likelycandidate, call their customersand check that they wouldrecommend them.”—Paul Dawson, sales director,Dawson Precision Components

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9001:2008 all over again. Companies gothrough all our calibration records to make sureall equipment is maintained and calibrated atregular intervals to reassure themselves thatthe machinery can guarantee the levels ofaccuracy the industry requires.”

Most aerospace companies will also checkparts against their own equipment and com-pare reports, to ensure they get the same read-ing. “This makes good sense,” he says. “It’sgood for both parties to start out by agreeingthat their machines agree, and this saves a lotof time and money later on if they don’t.”

Furthermore, machines aren’t infallible.Dawson recalls a time when a customer’s

co-ordinate measurement machine (CMM) dis-agreed with their reading, only to discover thecustomer’s measuring shaft had been turnedso it was moving the part it was measuring.After DPC had checked several times and con-firmed with a micrometer, they could confirmthe accuracy of their machine and identify anerror with the customer’s machine, saving thecustomer a lot of trouble with its own produc-tion process.

Precision is vital to an industry which relieson hundreds of tiny parts to make sureadvanced technology functions correctly andsafely, and sub-standard machines won’t makethe grade. DPC, for example, use the GoodwayCNC GS280MSY lathe for many aerospaceapplications. This is a high spec machine fordemanding turning applications offering 77mmdia bar capacity. Live tooling, C-axis, Y-axis, andsub-spindle capabilities mean it can completemilling, drilling, and front/back-end turningapplications in one run.

More complex parts aren’t suited to com-bined turning and milling so are turned on theGoodway machine and completed on two palletand 4th axis machining centres. Thesemachines are both versatile and competitive,with no loading time on larger batches.

Production machines aren’t foolproof, somust be backed up by the latest high qualityinspection equipment such as video measuringsystems and CMMs. Manufacturers expecting



These parts have been sorted and placed on ashelf (main), while a DPC technician sets upthe Goodway CNC GS280MSY lathe fordemanding turning applications (inset).

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high levels of quality control need to knowtheir suppliers have machines which measurequickly and to high accuracy. If componentsdon’t receive first-off, intermediate and finalinspection from trusted machines and expertmetrologists, the whole run can be useless.

DPC recently invested in a Mitutoyo Crysta7106 CNC CMM. This high-end piece of kitallows inspection at incredible accuracies, en-abling the levels of assurance on material qual-ity and tolerances that give suitable confidence

to the aerospace industry. Paul Dawson ex-plains: “We were in a situation where we hadthe production machinery and the skills tomake the parts, but not the inspection capabil-ities to prove we can do it. Such investmentsrepresent a big outlay for a company of oursize, but we are confident that the added valuethis will deliver to customers in industries likeaerospace will justify the cost.”

The people behind the technologySuch advanced machinery requires consid-

erable expertise to set up, program and oper-ate. Customer confidence comes not just fromhaving the technology to do the job, but fromseeing that the engineers know what theirdoing, and where possible have independentcertifications to prove it.

One course which offers important benefitsto customers is the dimensional measurementtraining framework from the National PhysicalLaboratory, now nationally accredited by EAL.This teaches a real understanding of geometricsymbols and tolerances, how to interpret draw-ings, and an appreciation of the conditions orinaccuracies that can affect measurement —



When we identified that one of our customers was makingincorrect measurements, it was because we were makinginformed decisions about measurement and they were simplytrusting the CMM which, like all machines, is not infallible.—Paul Dawson, sales director, Dawson Precision Components

Various aerospace components, including parts for seat arm mechanisms; carbon rings for satellites; and instrument and display brackets for cockpits.

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rather than just trusting a machine to do thejob.

This results in increased confidence ininspecting components, improving reliabilityand efficiency in the production process, andproviding added confidence to customers in theproduct they are receiving. “This is the kind ofcourse which stops us making measurementmistakes,” says Dawson. “When we identifiedthat one of our customers was making incor-rect measurements, it was because we weremaking informed decisions about measure-ment and they were simply trusting the CMMwhich, like all machines, is not infallible.”

Not everything is certifiable, nor should be.Manufacturers about to make a big order forimportant parts benefit from talking to the engi-neers, and they feel a lot more confident aboutundertaking work if they can see that engineersunderstand the machines, and can check theirdrawings and advise on the best approach.

One of DPC’s customers is Qioptiq, whichdevelops and manufactures optical solutionsfor commercial and military products, includingmodules for head up displays for aircraft, nightvision systems and sightings. It uses DPC for a

broad range of vital components because, likemost manufacturers who require subcontrac-tors, it has a level of specialist expertise thatis better subcontracted that developing inhouse. DPC produces various parts from 1mmto several centimeters, in a range of batches.

Mark Jones, support engineer at Qioptiq, isconvinced that subcontractors like DPC are upto the job. He says: “Whilst other companiestry to be all things to all people, DPC only offerproducts they know they can deliver to the high-est standard. As a result, their components are



Precision is vital to an industrywhich relies on hundreds oftiny parts to make sureadvanced technology functionscorrectly and safely.

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consistently delivered on time and to the high-est quality, which makes it easier for us tomeet our targets.”

Ensuring quality throughoutUnderpinning this whole process is trace-

ability. Manufacturers ordering parts which maybe holding aircraft together as they fly throughthe air need to be assured of traceabilitythroughout the production process, from mate-rial selection to inspection. This needs to beguaranteed through certificates of conformity,material test certification and, where absoluteprecision and consistency is critical, bespokeinspection reports.

When outsourcing production engineering, itis important that the material continues tomeet quality requirements in a traceable man-ner. AS9100 requires product identificationthroughout the product’s life cycle, high levelinspection and testing procedures and docu-mentation throughout, both in-house and forsuppliers.

This does not just apply to your suppliers,but for their suppliers too. A subcontractor mayhave an excellent reputation for larger parts, butnot so much for smaller ones, and may need touse their own subcontractors to fill their gaps inexpertise. This is not a problem, but it makes itharder to audit. Manufacturers need to assure

themselves that subcontractors meet AS9100standards (whether they hold the certificate ornot) and be assured that they demand the sameof their suppliers. They also need to be able tosee that the requisite certificates are providedfrom start to finish, whoever is involved.

Traceability requires all runs to be recorded,and records properly maintained and traceableright back to material batches. “Even if we’vemade a part 50 times,” says Dawson, “batchesare still bagged individually and traceable to the materials batch.” This makes repeatbatches easy to produce, simplifying futurebusiness. Even more importantly, if there areany problems with the finished product, trace-able records can be easily accessed and prob-lems up the chain identified — though if thecomponents have been properly manufacturedby experts using traceable techniques, thisshouldn’t ever be an issue.

By ensuring a subcontractor offers a combi-nation of the right expertise, equipment andprocesses, aerospace manufacturers can beconfident the parts they need are deliveredquickly and to specification. This allows jobs tobe completed quicker without compromisingstandards. All of which provides confidence totheir own customers, delivering value furtherdown the chain in terms of increased sales,and ultimately safer, more efficient aircraft. ■



If components don’t receivefirst-off, intermediate and finalinspection from trustedmachines and expertmetrologists, the whole runcan be useless.

ISO 9001:2008 is the internationally recognised standard for the quality management of businesses on which AS9100 is based.

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ENGINE MRO DEVELOPMENTSpdfs.findtheneedle.co.uk/23514.pdf · Aerospace companies work hard to ensure high standards of production and inspection are maintained at all stages. This