AMAG components is a specialist in the manufacture of ready-to-install metallic components and assemblies for the international aerospace industry. Its Karlsruhe site has been producing aerospace components since as far back as 1962, and in 1970, the company supplied titanium forged parts for the first Airbus A300 aircraft. Since then, AMAG components – today part of AMAG Austria Metall AG, headquartered in Ranshofen – has continuously expanded its expertise in machining complex materials.

The focus of production is on aluminum structural components and highly-stressed titanium components for international aircraft manufacturers. The component assembly plants in Karlsruhe and Übersee have Nadcap certification for Aero Structure Assembl (ASA), one of the most complex accreditations for processes in the aerospace industry.

High-quality machine fleet
The road to a safe, seamlessly documented process starts with the selection of machining centers. These need to produce components on a »first time right« basis: The very first part must meet quality requirements 100% – even with long machining times. The machine fleet at AMAG components is extremely high quality for this reason. Since 2013, the machine fleet in Karlsruhe has included MILL Series machining centers from the CHIRON Group for manufacturing medium-sized aluminum structural components: It contains one MILL 3000 and one MILL 4500, both with a divisible working area for parallel machining as well as loading and unloading.

FZ 16 S five axis for AMAG components with HSK-A100
The CHIRON Group was also one of the candidates in the selection process for a new titanium machining center in 2018. The concept of the FZ 16 S five axis, which was installed later that year, »was a good fit for the requirements,« explains Andreas Pitz, Technical Sales Consultant at the CHIRON Group. »Our new machining center also won the company over when it came to precision and highly dynamic and static rigidity. However, when we launched the FZ 16 S five axis, we had only designed it with an HSK-A63 interface – but the titanium components at AMAG required a higher torque, and a bigger interface also made more sense in light of the projected machining rates.«

So the CHIRON Group fitted the machining center for AMAG components with an HSK-A100 interface and a spindle with torque of 400 Nm. The commissioning in April 2020 marked the start of a test phase – which was planned for twelve months but was extended to two years due to COVID-19. The Engineering departments had regular meetings during that period. According to Andreas Pitz, Technical Consultant at the CHIRON Group, the live operation showed »that the larger interface when machining high-strength materials with long tools delivered the desired result: Dimensional stability from the very first part.«

As a result, the FZ 16 S five axis met the workpiece quality requirements and since the end of the test phase has been machining both forged titanium components and titanium plate parts, including elements for aircraft doors and wing to body parts. These are largely components that are critical to safety and that require First Part Qualification (FPQ). This includes checking the impact of the machining process on the material's microstructure quality – the machining center scored highly in this regard too.

The concept of the FZ 16 S five axis met the requirements of AMAG; the machining center won the company over, particularly due to its precision and highly dynamic and static rigidity.

Two additional machining centers for Übersee
Since then, the Übersee site on Lake Chiemsee also uses machining centers from the CHIRON Group – two DZ 22 W five axis. When the 22 Series was launched in 2020, the plus points of the 16 Series – high precision, dynamics and outstanding surface quality – were transferred to large workpiece machining. Before the investment, test machining was undertaken in Tuttlingen, Germany for stainless steel and titanium components. A key criterion for AMAG components was that productivity was to be improved through the new machines – with double spindles and a tool changer. The new machining centers – double-spindle and with tool changer – were intended to improve productivity. Since commissioning, the customer's expectations have been more than met, with the DZ 22 S five axis proving to be much more stable in series production than those previously used for these parts. To reach this level as quickly as possible, Torsten Schmidt provided second-level support as the permanent contact person for CHIRON Group Service during the start-up phase.

SmartLine digital systems
Two digital systems from the SmartLine portfolio are also used on the DZ 22 S five axis: DataLine collects machine and process data live, and the production process can be continuously optimized on a targeted basis using the diagnoses. Through RemoteLine, a CHIRON Group Service expert receives a notification and, after authorization, gains access to the machining center; they can help with operating issues and carry out remote diagnosis and maintenance if incidents arise. This prevents downtime, increasing the availability of both double-spindle machines at AMAG components in Übersee.

Axel Boi, Vice President Sales Aerospace, Medical & Precision Technology, and Andreas Pitz are currently supporting the Übersee team in designing a complementary system that will automatically feed both machining centers with workpieces.

From Heinkel-Werk to AMAG components at the Karlsruhe site

1954: Production of the Heinkel Tourist motor scooter

1962: Machining of structural components for the aerospace industry

1970: Machining of titanium forged parts for the first Airbus A300

2006: Takeover of the Karlsruhe site by Aircraft Philipp

2014: Strategic reorientation to the production of ready-to-install components

2020: AMAG Austria Metall AG takes over 70% of the German Aircraft Philipp Group (ACP) headquartered in Übersee on Lake Chiemsee.

2022: At the end of the year, AMAG becomes the sole owner and the company changes its name to AMAG components.

In February 2022, one of the first tasks for Fabio Neukirch, new Production Manager for Greidenweis in Spaichingen was to modernize manufacturing and the machine fleet. As a trained cutting machine operator and with eleven years of experience in sample and prototype construction, this was a welcome challenge for the industrial foreman. But what exactly was to be modernized and with what goals?

Background: Laminating systems, such as those Greidenweis has been manufacturing for Tier 1 suppliers to the automotive industry for over 25 years, are complex and always customized systems, 100 percent turnkey. A laminating tool that is commissioned in production can consist of a total of 300 individual parts in addition to the molded core component – molded part holder, numerous transfer slides, ribbed plates, pneumatic parts and many more. When it comes to large series production, there might be two, four or even eight of these laminating tools performing their task on a customized system and as part of a completely automated process: To professionally conceal everything that should not be visible in the vehicle.

Investment in doubled production volume
In order to get the »modernization of the machine fleet« project off to the right start, Fabio Neukirch first obtained an overview of the current orders in »his« production department: In his opinion, an in-house share of 30 percent to 70 percent external production was not an optimal ratio, neither economically nor in terms of production technology. He received planning support from Jens Rauser, Head of Sales since 2018 and very familiar with the challenges faced by customers in their market and the resulting requirements for Greidenweis. After various capacity and unit cost calculations, a work preparation analysis, the development of the production strategy and discussions with employees and supply partners, they knew which type of machine was the most suitable and how many of them would be needed to handle the projected production volume. »Using the solution developed together with the machine tool manufacturer, we wanted to more than double our in-house production and thus become more flexible, faster and more competitive,« says Jens Rauser, explaining the objective setting.

Fabio Neukirch summarizes the specifications as follows: »Batch sizes from one to ten, complex molded parts, our demand for high surface quality, production always from the solid material, mostly five-axis. The materials used still includes aluminum, but increasingly also high-strength steel, with processing times of two to six hours per component. And the whole thing is automated in three-shift operation.«

Powerful, dynamic machining, reliable automation
When Dirk Schmid received the inquiry, it was immediately clear that a classic tool and mold making solution was required. But which machining center from the CHIRON Group was the right one? And how do you safely automate the process to deliver the required high levels of autonomy? During an on-site visit, Dirk Schmid got to know the production facility in Spaichingen and spoke to Jens Rauser and Fabio Neukirch about the range of parts and the production strategy. With the requirement that the first molded part – whether made of aluminum or steel – had to meet the tight tolerance specifications in terms of surface quality and dimensional accuracy, it was clear to Dirk Schmid what qualities the production center had to have: Robustness, highly dynamic and stable conditions in the entire working area, especially with regard to dynamic compliance. This meant that two things were set in his concept: the 16 Series and two single-spindle machines for 5-axis machining.

The FZ 16 S five axis has successfully been equipped for other industries such as aerospace and specialized contract manufacturing for similar tasks by the application of the CHIRON Group. The machine dynamics enable very fast direction changes during 5-axis simultaneous multipass milling, which leads to a significantly shorter processing time for millions of program blocks. For roughing operations, whether high feed or heavy duty, the performance data and stability of the 16 Series allow the limits of the tool manufacturer's cutting data to be explored and the maximum metal removal rate Q to be milled.

At Greidenweis, a milling spindle with a high speed of 20,000 rpm should also contribute to greater productivity. With 57 kW of power and 140 Nm of torque, it would deliver optimum performance in daily machining practice for both aluminum and steel. As far as automation was concerned, there was only one solution for Dirk Schmid in view of annual production, shift operation, batch sizes, long machining times and machining volumes of up to 80 percent: a Variocell PALLET with gantry loader.

New capacities fully utilized, insourcing quota safely reached
The Variocell PALLET provides eight spaces for workpieces clamped in vices for the travel paths of the two FZ 16 S five axis of 660 x 660 x 500 mm (X – Y – Z). Machining on the production centers and loading the automation cell with workpiece blanks using the zero-point clamping system happens simultaneously. When one of the application technicians – Lars Flaig or Sascha Franke, for example – feeds in a workpiece, the cell is at its set-up position, where the other person loads or unloads it. The two have been working with the turnkey solution for around 15 months. Sascha Franke sums up what they value most: »The user-friendliness of the machine and automation, the impressive dynamics, i.e. speed, productivity. And, above all, the high quality that is delivered with the very first workpiece.«

Automation with further positive effects
The commissioning of the combination of FZ 16 S five axis and Variocell PALLET has set in motion a learning and development process at Greidenweis, from design to programming to production, which the company has been pursuing ever since and is increasingly exploiting the possibilities of automated production.

One of these is preventive protection against collisions: All CAD/CAM programs now run through an NC simulation and are also backed up by ProtectLine. ProtectLine is one of the CHIRON Group's SmartLine digital systems and uses a digital twin to reliably protect the machining center against collisions caused by operating errors or incorrect programming. The digital machining process fully replicates the physical one, and the geometry of the virtual workpiece corresponds to that of the real one at all times thanks to automatic material removal simulation.

The turnkey solution with machines and automation also has an impact on work preparation. Production is now planned to be largely autonomous both in the third shift and from Friday evening to Monday morning.

Production Manager Fabio Neukirch is completely satisfied with the result of his modernization project: »Today, the throughput times of our molded parts are up to 25 percent shorter than before, and our in-house production is now 90 percent instead of 30 percent. Our strategy worked out perfectly, the decision to opt for a turnkey solution from the CHIRON Group was exactly the right one. We were able to increase our added value, the production centers are working at full capacity and are amortizing faster than planned.«

Nordalu knows how to make use of its expertise both in the design of extrusion tools and in the rest of the process chain, allowing it to successfully juggle quality and unit costs for small batch sizes of individual profiles.

There are three machining centers from the MILL Series right at the end of the process chain. This series has established itself in the field of highly productive profile machining over the past 15 years at Nordalu. MILL machines are well known, and people know what they are capable of. The latest, a MILL 2000, came to Neumünster in the summer of 2022.

In addition to the high productivity, Matthias Seydler, Shift Manager in the CNC department at Nordalu, praises the repeat accuracy (in other words, the long-term precision) of the machines. The chip-to-chip time of 2.9 s and the rapid traverse of 60 m/min contribute to the production processes being inherently fast. With the many changes in tool and position, this is a great advantage to add to the calculation. »The MILL machines are real work-horses«, says Seydler. »They produce around 250,000 parts a year«.

Find out more in the video.

For more information: www.gutmann.de/en

Alexander Jarck, responsible for the CNC milling sector at Kahl, explains why the 15 Series is currently popular at Kahl as follows: »The machining centers are fast, versatile in use, easy to set up and precise and they provide process stability«. The new FZ 15 S five axis in the expansion stage with five-axis simultaneous machining and automation was a stated aim in the requirements specification and also embodies the production strategy of Kahl in a forward-looking way.

»Even if we're experiencing practically no staff turnover, we too are feeling the shortage of skilled workers and young talent. Using process digitalization and an automated production solution like the new FZ 15 S five axis, we are well able to withstand this and continue to guarantee high quality and productivity«, says Wulf Peter Kahl, Managing Director of Kahl, in justification of the decision. He adds with a smile: »Even if the price of the machine was higher than that of the competition, the solution from the CHIRON Group was ultimately the more reliable and more versatile one«.

Find out more in the video.

For more information: www.lotharkahl.de