Materials as a service

thyssenkrupp Materials UK is on a mission to transform the materials supply chain in aerospace and defence. Aerospace Manufacturing reports.

After the successful merger of the division thyssenkrupp Aerospace UK under thyssenkrupp Materials UK, the company has maximised operational efficiencies in terms of digital synergies and the new cross-department structure has allowed for an effective internal knowledge transfer.

The merger was a strategic decision to develop a unified, future-proof business in the UK, sustain high skilled, in-house aerospace engineering expertise and elevate the “Materials-as-a-Service” proposition, which thyssenkrupp Materials Services, the holding company of thyssenkrupp Materials UK, offers to its customers.

With its further strategic development “Materials-as-a-Service”, thyssenkrupp Materials Services is set to transform the materials supply chains across a wide range of industries, including aerospace and defence. The strategy ensures that customers can concentrate on what really matters: their core business. The diverse range of services, the company offers, covers two strategic areas of activity: materials distribution and tailor-made supply chain services. The offering ranges from the supply of a wide range of high-quality materials through technical services such as material preparation and machining to developments in automation, extended supply chain, warehouse and inventory management.

In line with the ‘Materials-as-a-Service’ offering at the Milton Keynes site, thyssenkrupp Materials UK has invested in the latest CNC machining technology Mazak Quick Turn 350MB, integrated with a cutting-edge ABB robotic arm. The QT350MB CNC machine allows for the precision manufacturing of complex parts with reduced set-ups.

“The turning centre has 12 tooling locations, allowing long runs in production, without stopping, and changes tooling automatically, as required,” states thyssenkrupp Materials Services’ head of operations, Graham Hinton. “The performance of this equipment, coupled with the robotic arm, will yield 300% greater output than the semi-automatics, previously used. The robotic arm allows for efficient, safe and unmanned operations to happen with only loading, unloading, cleaning and tooling changes required. The robotic arm feeds the machine, turns the product for second passes, without requirements of handling equipment, cleans and etches the product as required, before stacking in boxes for shipping. This technology allows 24/7 safe and efficient lights-out operations to happen, which significantly increases the output and quality and further reduces product lead-times.”

Digital transformation

Thyssenkrupp Materials Services is focusing on digital transformation of the materials distribution business, which is part of the strategic path the business has embarked on in order to ensure future viability for the entire supply chains. With more technological investments and further strategic management to come, the company works closely on developing long-term relationships with both buyers and suppliers in the industry.

The commitment of thyssenkrupp Materials UK to re-shape the materials supply chains and offer highly efficient added value services have already led to long-term relationships with customers in the UK defence sector as well as high involvement in the global thyssenkrupp aerospace division, contributing to the winning of supply chain management contracts on civil and military aerospace programs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Thyssenkrupp Materials UK offers a vast range of products and a wealth of experience in sourcing and supplying products such as stainless steel, aluminium and mild steel. The company also provides a range of services, whether it be fully welded and fabricated finished parts or bespoke flat products cut to exact sizes. To help reduce inventory and costs, thyssenkrupp Materials UK specialises in supply chain management and logistics solutions.

www.thyssenkrupp-materials.co.uk