Lights-Out 5-Axis Machining for Complex Defense Parts
At Focused on Machining, we speak extensively with defense primes through project collaborations, as well as at trade shows and other industry events. In those conversations and in our discussions with other defense manufacturers, we hear a common theme: the defense industrial base is under pressure to move faster.
No single company can solve that challenge alone, but we take our role seriously. That’s one reason we’ve invested in advanced equipment and automation to help increase our lights-out capacity for complex defense parts.
5-Axis Machining to Reduce Timelines
We have long embraced automation, but we never stop improving to turn your parts around faster. One clear illustration is a complex antenna component we make for a defense customer. The part has positional tolerances of less than a thousandth of an inch, with certain feature locations held to within seven ten-thousandths of an inch. Precision is central to the part’s performance.
When we first began manufacturing this part, we ran it on one of our horizontal mills. We met required specifications, but the process was slower than we wanted it to be. It required careful fixturing, and because tolerances were so tight, we had to manually indicate certain features to confirm accuracy. These manual steps added to timelines.
Today, we manufacture the same part on our 5-axis mill, improving cycle times. Even more significantly, the 5-axis machine is reliable enough to run this complex part lights out, reducing production timelines.
Repeatability Is Critical for Speed in Defense Machining
Our 5-axis equipment is highly accurate and robust, and its palletized setup allows the machine to be fed continuously, even for tight tolerance machining. When we first transitioned the antenna component to the 5-axis mill, we checked parts frequently to make sure the machine was holding tolerance throughout the run. After the first batch, our quality team found that the final part we produced was just as good as the first.
That kind of repeatability is essential to defense machining. It’s what allows us to run lights-out at night with total confidence in the results. We can take advantage of more hours of production, while maintaining fewer setups and better access to complex part features.
And now, we are ramping into even more complex 5-axis work. One part currently in production has a cycle time of nearly 22 hours, and we plan to run it unattended around the clock.
Building Reliable Processes for Lights-Out Production
Lights-out precision machining requires confidence in both your equipment and your processes. Our most senior programmer handles our 5-axis projects, and he brings years of programming and machining knowledge.
There is one central principle in our lights-out programming: the goal is stable, reliable processes instead of pure speed. We need quality parts without intervention, and in many cases that requires a more conservative approach rather than aiming for aggressive cycle times. Our programmer pays close attention to tool life, workholding, chip evacuation, and controlled cuts.
We’ll Help Defense Customers Move Faster
Primes need a manufacturing partner that can produce complex parts while still moving quickly. Focused on Machining offers lights-out machining to help increase throughput and reduce timelines for your defense parts.
Request a quote today to find out how we can support your challenging program!