United in additive innovation

United Aerospace’s managing director, Gareth Burks provides the latest update on how the company’s CMS Kreator Ares large format additive manufacturing/CNC machining centre is settling in on the shopfloor.

United Aerospace (UA) has recently collaborated with Italian CNC machine tool builder, CMS on the purchase of a brand-new CMS Kreator Ares large format additive manufacturing (LFAM) + CNC machining centre. Newly installed and commissioned, the Kreator is now set for real production, as well as effectively providing a UK showroom and laboratory to facilitate trials and demonstrations for potential UA and CMS customers.

UA was established in 2004, in Pembrokeshire, Wales in a purpose-built 25,000ft² facility, manufacturing composite components for a variety of industries. Initially supplying the first-class aircraft seating industry, the company has diversified over time to service a host of different industries whilst growing its in-house capabilities to offer a one-stop shop for all its customers’ needs.

The latest technical and commercial collaboration with CMS brings benefits for both parties, and is primarily based on continued knowledge sharing, ongoing application development and joint marketing activities.

Q) Firstly, how is the new Kreator LFAM settling into its role at UA?

As with any new piece of machinery or technology, there is always a period of familiarisation and understanding from both the machine capability, as well as the operators. Given that this technology is so new, the R&D process has been in-depth and thorough, which we believe will lay a solid foundation for years to come.

Q) What benefits is this technical and commercial collaboration with CMS bringing to UA?

Given that this technology is still emerging, having a technical partnership in place with CMS has been invaluable as we have not only been given access to all machine updates and modifications, but we have also been able to ‘brainstorm’ our own print methodologies and ideas with their development engineers.

Q) What real production parts and tooling have been produced on Kreator?

Along with all the development ‘sample’ prints that we have been doing to test the full capabilities of the machines using various materials, we have also managed to print, machine and use several vacuum holding fixtures and autoclave mould tools.

Q) In terms of lead-times, do you have any comparisons of savings between previous manufacturing methods with those now available through Kreator?

Although we have not yet done a real world ‘live’ comparison between the Kreator and traditional tooling methods, we have been able to draw some comparisons from previously manufactured fixtures and the early indications are that future lead-times will certainly be drastically reduced.

Q) In general, what kind of customer feedback have you received?

So far, all completed prints have been for in-house use as we are ensuring that we have optimised the process before offering it to new and existing customers. Our period of in-house development is now coming to an end with more and more customers requesting us to print their projects as soon as possible.

Q) Are you seeing any further potential for what the machine can offer, now that you are getting used to its capabilities?

As the team are getting more and more familiar with the machine’s capabilities - and are now starting to combine this new knowledge with previous tool and component design knowledge - so more and more potential possibilities are becoming a reality for the Kreator.

Q) You previously stated that part of your in-house development programme was to determine the optimum print-to-machine ratio to see whether a slower, finer, more accurate print is better or worse than and higher volume print with more machining. What are your conclusions?

I’d say it is probably still too early to draw final conclusions, as each new piece of component geometry needs its own unique approach to it. What I can say is that my team are constantly optimising the print-to-machine ratio for each individual project.

Q) You also mentioned that the next phase for UA is to assess the possibilities of generating your own power in order to run the Kreator ‘green’. Any new developments here?

Yes. We have made the decision to install as many solar panels on the factory as we can, which will more than cover all the new power requirements of the Kreator machine.

Q) Is the Kreator on track to justify its outlay in terms of ROI and payback?

This is always a tricky question - and one that would be answered differently depending on which department in a business you ask! All I can say as the owner of UA is that I am happy that we have made this purchase. I am comfortable with the progress we are making and look forward to welcoming customers new and old to experience what we are developing.

Q) How well does the Kreator machine tool solution align with any Industry 4.0 and the factory of the future philosophies UA may have?

Taking an existing process that uses multiple machines and multiple people and condensing it into a single machine with a single skilled operator is certainly in keeping with our factory of the future philosophies. Combining the Kreator technology together with the fully-recyclable materials - and the lower overall energy usage - certainly puts UA on a path to Industry 4.0.

Q) Finally, any other business?

2023 will certainly be a busy year for us and CMS, as we will be opening our doors to welcome select CMS customers to view the Kreator in action in a commercial environment.

www.united-aerospace.com

www.cms.it