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News Release from: Leica Geosystems AG | Subject: Portable CMM
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 November 2006
Portable CMM for tooling at Airbus
factory
The Broughton site of Airbus relies on 7 Leica Laser Trackers to perform recertification and modification jobs.
The Airbus site in Broughton near Chester, UK, manufactures every single wing variant in the Airbus product line, including the mother of all flagships, the new A380 Providing work for more than 7,000 people, Airbus is the largest employer in town
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 1 Nov 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Airbus site in Broughton near Chester, UK, manufactures every single wing variant in the Airbus product line, including the mother of all flagships, the new A380.
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Over 100 Leica Laser Trackers are used by the 16 production facilities in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, and the Broughton site alone relies on 7 Leica Laser Trackers to perform recertification and modification jobs.
The newest addition to their Leica Metrology arsenal is the Leica T-Probe, the wireless hand-held "Walk-Around" portable CMM.
However, technology aside, it is the Leica Geosystems unparalleled quality of service and support that has made all the difference to day-to-day sustainability of Airbus operations.
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Few things arouse as much awe and admiration as flying does.
Nothing captures our love affair with airplanes better than the brand-new A380, the largest passenger aircraft ever built.
With 73m [239ft] in length, a wingspan of 80m [262ft] and a height of more than 24m [80ft], its sheer size instantly earns both respect and affection.
When it goes into service in 2008, the A380 is poised to redefine long-distance air travel as we know it.
The wings on any aircraft are probably the single most complex and crucial element in the entire construction.
Not only the number of complex parts going into the assembly of a wing but also the need to maintain unforgivingly tight tolerances of about 0.25mm (one tenthousandth of an inch) over the entire length of the wing put tremendous requirements on the tooling.
The assembly takes place in large jigs that may reach the height of several stories.
Individual jigs may have hundreds of tooling points that have to be in perfect alignment with each other.
Graham Tudor, Tooling Operations Manager at Airbus, explains: "Leica equipment has taken us away from the conventional tooling business and has made recertifications and modifications our core competence.
We are using Leica Laser Trackers plus the new Leica T-Probe for that innovation and are registering saving in the region of 30 to 50 percent in both time and money." "Recently, we had to rework an A340 wing.
We were requested to move the wing back into the jigs to repair the fault, which had never been done before.
We had recertified the jigs using the Leica laser technology and were able to put the wing into a different jig other than the one in which it was originally built.
Bringing the wing into a different jig with absolutely no modifications or adjustments was only possible because of the tolerances we had achieved when we did the recertification." honouring delivery dates is paramount.
Graham Tudor explains: "One hour of equipment downtime may only cost me GBP45 in labor costs, but one hour of downtime to a major airline is worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds due to the lost revenue if the aircraft is not in service." Relying on dependable service and support is another element of the Leica experience.
"What I get from Leica Geosystems is a true turnkey package.
Leica's Technical Sales Engineer Steve Shickell lives locally and is always on hand to offer support and expertise.
There is always an instant, rapid response because Steve and his team understand the implications of not delivering.
I receive regular updates on products, launches and new technologies that allows me to view your latest products first hand.
For example, we were one of the first companies in the UK to start using the Leica T-Probe." "When I want a laser tracker, I think of Leica Geosystems above anyone else because of the package I receive and not just because of the price of the product.
Sure, I might save money somewhere else, but when it breaks down, where do I go for help? How long is it before that help gets to me? In this business, the risk of failure is simply too high to leave anything to chance.
With Leica Geosystems, there are no open questions." Over the past decade most of the Airbus tooling has been designed using a 3D CAD package.
This has allowed the company to go gaugeless and recertify these tools using a non-contact measurement systems like the Leica Laser Tracker.
Alan Minshul, Airbus Tool Engineer, provides the final food for thought: "One of the frustrations has been that our legacy tooling still has to be checked using conventional methods.
With the introduction of the Leica T-Probe, we can go gaugeless there as well, thus allowing us to recertify these tools up to 50 percent quicker.
In a way, the Leica T-Probe is the evolutionary missing link that we have been waiting for all along.".
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