Delcam CADCAM helps LSNW to conquer aerospace complexity

Ten years ago LSNW decided to bring programming in-house, as more and more of its projects were CAD-based and LSNW invested in PowerSHAPE, PowerMILL and PowerINSPECT, plus Delcam Exchange to read in CATIA models. LSNW director Richard Fielding claimed that his company had "no interest" in simple high-volume jobs, preferring to take on more demanding work that other subcontractors would struggle to complete. LSNW's reputation has spread with the completion of a number of high-profile projects, including work on components for JSF and the Eurofighter. Approvals have been received from Rolls Royce, Airbus and BAE Systems, among others, for supply of tooling and components. While geometry for many components is supplied to LSNW as CAD files, PowerSHAPE is used extensively to prepare the models for machining. Mr Fielding explains: "PowerSHAPE is very good for designing fixtures, both for machining and inspection. PowerMILL is unbeatable for machining. I've seen lots of CAM demonstrations over the last ten years but I've never seen anything that would make me think about changing. "Fast turn-around has always been the key to our success and growth," continued Mr. Fielding. "The Delcam systems make it quick to program one-off jobs; in fact, in a lot of cases, we can program quicker than we can machine. The results are extremely reliable. This is essential for us as we rely on 'lights-out', unmanned machining overnight and at weekends to meet the tight deadlines on many of our projects." The latest and biggest machine tool purchase was a five metre, 5-axis machine installed November 2009. The post-processers for this machine were written by Delcam engineers who liaised closely with the designers of the 5-axis head from ISA, Milan, Italy.