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• Goodrich becomes Delcam’s 9,000th customer

Delcam is pleased to announce that Goodrich Engine Control Systems has become the 9,000th customer for the Power Solution range of CADCAM software. Goodrich will use Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system for the programming of four- and five-axis machine tools, used mainly for the manufacture of components for fuel metering units and fuel pumps.

Formed by a combination of the engine controls businesses of Goodrich and TRW Aeronautical Systems, Goodrich Engine Control Systems is the world’s leading independent aerospace fuel system supplier, capable of designing and manufacturing complete engine control systems in-house. Goodrich has been serving the engine controls business for more than sixty years. Rolls-Royce plc, General Electric and Pratt & Whitney Canada are just some of the names that rely on Goodrich systems for a wide range of engines, serving an even wider range of aircraft manufacturers.

The decision to use Delcam’s software follows a major investment programme in four- and five-axis machines at Goodrich’s Birmingham site. The investment was intended to allow production operations to be transferred from older equipment. However, re-programming the jobs for the new machines was proving to be so slow that progress was disappointing.

"We were using traditional programming methods based on drawings,” explained Project Manager Paul Sollers. "The complexity of the components meant that it was taking around four months to generate the programs and then another month or six weeks to optimise the cutting on the machine tool. We had built up a range of macros in the machine tool controls to eliminate some of the repetitive operations but, when we started working in five axes, we realised we had taken this approach as far as we could.”

The decision to buy Delcam’s PowerMILL was based on ease-of-use and calculation speed. "We looked at a number of systems and PowerMILL seemed to be the most straightforward for five-axis programming,” said Mr. Sollers. "The software works in the way that an engineer would work. For example, it uses a spiral-offset strategy to rough out a circular bore, whereas other systems were using a raster approach. Also, the cutter path generation is unbelievably quick.”

Goodrich is having six engineers trained to form a dedicated CAM team. Mr. Sollers expects that PowerMILL will enable programming times to be cut in half, to a maximum of two months for even the most complex component. "Anything better will be a real bonus,” he commented. However, this won’t be the only benefit of the software.

"We will be able to do most of our toolpath editing on the computer and so will be able to make better use of the limited amount of time we have for trials on the machine,” said Mr. Sollers. "In addition, PowerMILL’s collision detection will give us extra protection of the machines.”

"The transfer of our existing products to the new machines will be much faster and the introduction of new products will be increased,” he added. "Finally, we will be able to bring our prototyping work in-house and so save time by carrying out new product development work on the same machines that will be used for production.”

Company Background

Goodrich Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global supplier of systems and services to the aerospace and defense industry. If there's an aircraft in the sky -- we're on it. Goodrich technology is involved in making aircraft fly ... helping them land ... and keeping them safe. Serving a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and service facilities, Goodrich is one of the largest "pure play" aerospace companies in the world. For more information visit http://www.goodrich.com