As a leading specialist in the manufacture of aerospace flight-control components and sub-assemblies, West Yorkshire-based Produmax Ltd has recently made several significant investments in machine tools, the latest being an Ultramat 1000 CNC B universal grinder from Leicester-based Jones & Shipman Hardinge Ltd (www.jonesshipman.com).

Replacing three older machines, this gives Produmax a range of new grinding options, while significantly reducing cycle times on a number of components.

One of the larger contracts that Produmax undertakes is the manufacture and assembly of wing-flap actuators for Bombardier. Thisinvolves a number of components for which concentricity and a good seal between surfaces is essential.

The new Ultramat CNC produces these parts with ease — and it has reduced the cycle time from 25min to 5min. Produmax is also producing significant numbers of components destined for installation on the latest C-series aircraft. Quite a few of these components are hard-chromed and subsequently ground using the new Ultramat.

Produmax operations director Paul Birtles says: “Having a machine with such capability and capacity that means our technical team is continually finding new projects for it, in addition to those we had initially allocated on its installation.

“This has given us greater flexibility when reviewing methods of manufacture; and while the 1,000mm grinding-length capacity is more than adequate, with new applications coming in all the time, having a ‘future-proofed’ machine is a real bonus.”

As with all its production machines, Produmax has the Ultramat networked, with all programming undertaken off-line.

The company is also proposing to use EdgeCam and Vericut simulation software on the new grinder; these are successfully used on all its other machining processes.