Precision engineering firm, JJ Churchill today announced that it has increased six-fold the space for its Tool Room Division. The factory has a range of state-of-the-art and traditional equipment to design and produce from first principles some of the most complex fixtures in a new, purpose-built facility. Fixtures are a key bottle-neck in the production of many aerospace components. Unlike most other companies in the sector, JJ Churchill has invested heavily in this capability in order to have more control and guarantee quality in this highly technically demanding field. Expert designers and machinists produce fixtures to an accuracy of 20µm, that’s one fifth the thickness of a standard sheet of paper. This accuracy is needed to ensure the subsequent precision manufacture of specialist engineered components. The facility has a range of equipment, which was recently enhanced with a 3D printer, enabling the division to slash prototype designs and production from weeks to hours. Other capabilities include CNC mills, lathes and EDM wire erosion. As well as milling and turning, the division also puts each jig through a CMM to control quality, with automated part marking. This initiative has freed up a lot of space which is now being devoted to the production of aerospace components, including the £70million contract with Rolls-Royce announced at last year’s Farnborough Airshow. JJ Churchill’s design engineer, Matthew Smith said: “The most technically challenging problems in machining can be found in the design and production of fixtures for complex aerospace parts. And that’s what we do at JJ Churchill – we focus on ‘sticky niches’, problems where the first reaction is ‘that can’t be done’. But we do it day in day out, producing fixtures that enable the company to hit our manufacturing schedules. We are continuously ramping up to meet the needs of our growing business.” www.jjchurchill.com Mike Richardson Tags JJ Churchill aero engines Blades Blisks investments tooling & fixturing Share This Article Tweet Share Share Share Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter Related Articles JJ Churchill wins UK industry award JJ Churchill gains Rolls-Royce excellence award Out of the blue Most recent Articles New stealth bomber will rival USAF's B-21 Raider, China claims Airbus launches shake-up of aerostructures activity in Europe Boeing delivers next F-15EX to US Air Force ahead of schedule Share This Article Tweet Share Share Share Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter