Swiss-based Güdel (www.gudel.com) has named its UK subsidiary as the group Centre of Excellence for aerospace applications.

Coventry-based Güdel UK has been working closely with the UK aerospace sector since 1994 and has gained an extensive knowledge and expertise through its collaboration on a wide range of aerospace projects.

Güdel UK director Gary Ottley says that the size of the components involved in the aerospace sector require automation on a much larger scale than most other manufacturing environments.

In addition, the operations being performed are diverse, including drilling, fastening, composite material handling and lay-up, sealing, assembly, cleaning, polishing and non-destructive testing.

Güdel’s reputation for rigidity, precision and speed means that its gantry robots and linear-motion systems are widely used in the aerospace sector. For example, they are an integral part of the production systems for the Airbus A380 wing outer rear spar, transporting the specialist tooling systems used to produce the multitude of holes on each component. In another application, a five-axis Güdel gantry system uses a 1m-diameter wheel, combined with force monitoring, to create a mirror finish on aircraft fuselage sections.

This instantly recognisable finish on the aircraft of a major airline is not just aesthetic; there are savings in weight from not using paint, and the smooth finish improves the aerodynamic performance. The significant increase in the use of composite materials within the aerospace and renewable energy sectors is another area where Güdel gantry systems are also playing a key role. The company has a range of reconfigurable systems for composite material handling. Typical applications include handling dry fibre materials, kitting parts and laying up wing-skin moulds.