Learjet manufacturer Bombardier Aerospace was running 240 different parts through a cell comprised of four horizontal, 4-axis machines with a 28-pallet system and one vertical, 5-axis machine with an 8-pallet system at its facility in Wichita, KS. When methods engineer Drew Hanus needed to increase productivity, he turned to Advanced Machine & Engineering (AME), with whom he had worked in the past, for assistance. Dietmar Goellner, AME's CEO, fixturing group product manager Alvin Goellner, and Jim Park, AME's representative in Wichita, visited Drew at the Wichita facility.

AME's team of experts demonstrated the advantages of sub-plates with hardened precision bushings and hardened threaded inserts on a 2 in. grid system. Drew needed to change parts quickly from one setup to the next, and it was clear that grid tombstones and plates, along with modular components, would allow him to locate and align very accurately and quickly on a 2 in. precision grid system.

Drew purchased several full-grid tombstones to be used with their palletized system along with sub-plates, components, and precision dowel screws, which can be used for locating fixture plates onto tombstones or their pallets for quick changeover.

Bombardier's pallets were shipped to AME, who incorporated bushings and threaded inserts, along with locating and mounting holes. A 2 in. grid system was integrated into the pallets and everything was inspected with AME's CMM machine. Calibration blocks were added to check the probe for repeatability of the machines. At the beginning of each day, it shows wear, and where adjustments are needed to hold .0002 accuracy. A rotary axis check is also done on the 4th axis rotary table to ensure accuracy.

Today, 800 different parts are being run through two cells. Monolithic parts are run on one setup. Now, Bombardier enjoys 91% savings on setup time and a total saving of 81% on cycle time over the old dedicated system.

"The new system played a major role in allowing us to achieve our Six Sigma goals for this segment of our fabrication process," said Drew Hanus. "We now have improved setup time, we are producing better quality parts and saving money in the long run."

A future project is planned to add modular components to the system.