As the strengthening partnership between Starrag UK, via its Tier 1 status, with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing and the Nuclear AMRC sees an increasing number of machines being installed there by the Birmingham-based machine tool supplier, Matt Farnsworth, aerostructures group leader at AMRC, says there are clear reasons for the success of the Starrag Group’s machining technologies at these centres of manufacturing excellence.
“We want the best machines in the world and we know the Starrag machines are the best because both Boeing and BAe Systems, for example, use them for production,” he pointed out. “It is essential we have machines that enable us to provide like-for-like comparisons for development work for our partners, including the giants of the aerospace industry. It means we can actually prove out processes on machines similar to those that our partners use, so the OEMs’ production downtime is minimal.”
The Starrag Group machines already installed at the organisations on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in South Yorkshire – the Starrag ZT 1000 machining centre (a heavy-duty five-axis machine ideal for machining aero engine casings), the Scharmann Ecospeed 2538 machining centre and the Starrag STC1250 machining centre (at the AMRC), plus the Heckert HEC 1800 machining centre (at the Nuclear AMRC) will soon be joined by: A D?rries VC 5000 MC V vertical turning lathe with five-axis milling head and five metre table, in the Nuclear AMRC, and a Starrag LX051 five-axis machining centre fitted with Starrag’s cryogenic cooling.
Established in 2001, the AMRC focuses on advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors such as automotive and motor sport.
