Okuma Opens Aerospace Center of Excellence

Okuma America Corporation (Charlotte, NC) announces that they have opened an Aerospace Center of Excellence at their facility in Charlotte for aerospace manufacturers to use as a testing and proving ground for advanced CNC machining technology to enhance productivity while solving the unique challenges faced by the industry.

The nearly 10,000 sq ft space currently houses nine CNC machines designed for the aerospace market, totaling more than $6.5 million in value. The space also includes a fully-operational metrology room, including CMM equipment and other quality measurement devices, and a conference room. Additionally, visitors have access to the Partners in THINC facility, which currently houses an additional 16 machines, valued at $4.5 million and ranging from entry-level CNC lathes to machining centers and grinders.

In addition to Okuma equipment and dedicated engineering personnel, facility activities will incorporate resources from members of Partners in THINC, enabling access to an additional 50 suppliers of peripheral equipment and accessories. Tooling, workholding, gauging, software and other products necessary to optimize manufacturing processes will be easily available, as will the corresponding engineering experts.

“We envision that the facility will be used by various levels of aerospace suppliers, from Tier 3 to OEMs, to help them test new equipment, processes and materials. We’ve been working with our Partners to improve exotic metal cutting through the use of tool management software, cutting tool selection and other productivity enhancements, and now we want to help the actual manufacturers with these same challenges”, notes Jim Kosmala, the vice president of technology.

The debut of the center will be December 9-10, 2014, when the company hosts its annual open house. The theme of this year’s event is “Make the Leap” and will be showcasing technology and machines that enable manufacturers to move up the technology spectrum. Aerospace demonstrations taking place at this year’s event include:

• Titanium cutting on the new MA-12500H horizontal machining center
• A stator segment being cut on the MU-10000H 5-axis vertical machining center
• Gear cutting on the new MULTUS U4000 multitasking horizontal lathe
• Blade cutting on the new MULTUS U3000 multitasking horizontal lathe

Jim King, the president and chief operating officer, states, “While the Aerospace Center of Excellence is physically located in Charlotte, we are using our worldwide resources to support this effort. We have a global team made up of people from Okuma Japan, Europe and America, who are working closely to identify new processes and technologies specifically to help this industry address their challenges. It’s an existing and ongoing mission and the Center establishes a centralized point of collaborative expertise for delivering innovation and productivity enhancements to aerospace manufacturers.”

This aerospace initiative has already resulted in a collaboration with The Boeing Company on the new ISO STEP-NC standard, originally presented at the recent International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) 2014. Additional technologies will be on display at the Paris Air Show in June, 2015, where Okuma Europe and America will be jointly exhibiting.

Okuma America is the U.S.-based sales and service affiliate of Okuma Corporation, a world leader in CNC (computer numeric control) machine tools, founded in 1898 in Nagoya, Japan. The company is the industry’s only single-source provider, with the CNC machine, drive, motors, encoders, spindle and CNC control all manufactured by Okuma. Okuma’s innovative and reliable technology, paired with comprehensive, localized service protection, allows users to run continuously with confidence – maximizing profitability.

Along with its industry-leading distribution network (largest in the Americas), and Partners in THINC, Okuma facilitates quality, productivity and efficiency, empowering the customer and enabling competitive advantage in today’s demanding manufacturing environment.

Boeing is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. As a major service provider to NASA, Boeing is the prime contractor for the International Space Station. The company also provides numerous military and commercial airline support services.

Boeing provides products and support services to customers in 150 countries and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales. Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing employs more than 169,000 people across the United States and in more than 65 countries. Total company revenues for 2013 were $86.6 billion.

www.okuma.com/aerocenter