The cut and thrust of coolant

As the aerospace industry experiences increasing competition and rapid technological developments, Blaser Swisslube's CEO, Marc Blaser reckons it's more important than ever to understand...

As the aerospace industry experiences increasing competition and rapid technological developments, Blaser Swisslube's CEO, Marc Blaser reckons it's more important than ever to understand the effects of cutting fluid on a machining process and hence on the productivity. The current situation in the aerospace industry means that our customers are facing the challenges of technological developments in machines, tools and materials – especially in the machining of nickel basis alloys or titanium alloys, which have unfavourable physical properties. Ever-tightening regulations also intensify the pressure on the entire industry. These increased requirements in complex machining can only be met in cooperation with competent partners.

We are responding to these demands by first analysing the kinds of effects that cutting fluids can place on the machining process. In partnership with our customers, we go through the whole machining process to find the best solution and provide the highest value. Only by close interaction with our customer's experts can we co-create their tailor-made solution.

In partnership with Blaser Swisslube, the customer receives more than cutting fluids, he receives a liquid tool: selecting the best cutting fluid for the operation in question, correctly used, and accompanied by the know-how and competence of our specialists in combination with our customised services. Blaser Swisslube's Liquid Tool allows customers to fully exploit the potential of both the machine and tools, and hence boost productivity.

As a result of trying to provide our customer with technological benefits, our R&D has grown to the biggest in the field. In addition to our chemical, microbiological and analytical research and development services, we provide state of the art manufacturing properties through rigorous testing in our in-house manufacturing technology centre.

Another industry challenge requires meeting new environmental regulations like REACH. As a global company we provide our customers with products that comply with both regional and country-specific regulations. Since the foundation of our company 70 years ago, environmental health and safety are key drivers of innovation in our organisation. We strive to continuously provide sustainable solutions that go beyond normal requirements and maximise the value for our customers. Concerning REACH, we judge our situation as good, as all of our raw materials affected by the regulation have been either registered by our suppliers or directly by Blaser within the allowed time period. We will attain 100% fulfilment of the registration requirements.

A big challenge this year will be our renewed focus on reducing fluid costs across company-wide fluid management contracts. The effects of cutting fluid on the machining process - and hence the manufacturing cost per piece - are disregarded. Indeed, larger companies often overlook its influence on the machining process – maybe due to its complexity. It is easier to talk about the price per litre rather than analysing the result of applying this litre on the customer's productivity. We are fully committed to providing not only the cutting fluid, but also the competence, the tools and the expertise to demonstrate and prove the value of applying the right fluid in the right way for the customer.

Our research and development in collaboration with our manufacturing technology centre and several lead customers in the aerospace industry have almost tripled tool life in titanium within the last 10 months. Once customers see such a high value coming from Blaser's Liquid Tool, the relevant approvals can be achieved quickly and efficiently. The speed of our customers' innovation defines our pace and we work hard to be at least as fast, or preferably faster.

We are continuously improving and evolving and are committed to providing high quality products with the right competence and value adding services to the aerospace industry. You can expect Liquid Tool solutions with a measurable productivity gain from us today as well as tomorrow.

www.blaser.com
 

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