Prodtex Ltd (www.prodtex.com)— a specialist in manufacturing processes, tooling and fixturing — will present its work on the Locomachs (Low Cost Manufacturing and Assembly of Composite and Hybrid Structures) project at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry on 16 June.

The Bristol-based subsidiary of Prodtex in Sweden played a key role in two of the work packages of the 33 million euro programme: to design and build a fixture for the Lean Assembly Wing Box demonstrator (so called LAWiB); and to create a virtual full-scale assembly line to build wings in a leaner, quicker and more-cost-effective manner, using the company’s 3-D modelling, robotics and assembly-line expertise.

The fixture work employs the patent-protected steel-based Boxjoint reconfigurable tooling. In conjunction with the MTC, Prodtex designed and built robots to insert the spar directly into the LAWiB — the first time this has been achieved.

Peter Helgosson, director of Prodtex, said: “It is fantastic to finally see years of working with the most innovative minds in the European aerospace industry come to fruition. We were able to successfully build up the factory of the future virtually and to physically test many processes and hardware.”

Magnus Engström, technical director of Locomachs and project leader at Saab Aeronautics, said: “Several benefits are derived from designing a virtual factory. Visibility of the physical flow and the work environment for operators highlights details that are easy to miss in a static 2-D drawing, including physical accessibility, working postures and material handling.”

Locomachs is a collaborative research and development project that is being co-ordinated by SAAB AB and has 31 partners — including the key players in Europe’s aircraft industry.

For more information on the conference, visit the Web site (www.advancedatf.eu).