Committed to apprentice training for over 30 years, a defence equipment subcontractor emphasises the need for strict conformance to quality standards when machining and fabricating.
For more than 30 years IPE of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, has been committed to apprentice training, recruiting as many as six youngsters every year. As well as teaching them the requisite engineering skills, this sub-contract companys training programme emphasises the need for strict conformance to quality standards when machining, fabricating and assembling components destined for critical defence and aerospace applications. It is here that machine tools supplied by XYZ Machine Tools play a vital role, one that began several years ago when Nick Frost, Machine Shop Manager, began looking for a machine that could provide apprentices with a fast but safe transition from manual to CNC machining.

While on a visit to the headquarters of a Formula One parts manufacturer, he found that not only were XYZ machines installed, their performance was described as being 'as good as gold'.

'So we decided to buy a KRV3000 milling machine and since then we have bought a number of XYZ mills and turning machines, including a Proturn 350 manual/CNC lathe.' Although the initial purchase was made with apprentices in mind, the scheme misfired somewhat because Ian Springett, the former apprentice who first operated the KRV3000, refused to be parted from it.

'So we bought a second machine and the same thing happened,' recalls Frost.

'In the end we bought another two machines and earmarked them for apprentice use only!' These four XYZ turret mills, a mix of KRV3000 and PRO3000 turret mills equipped with the Prototrak MX2 control, continue to be operated by a successful blend of highly skilled machinists and enthusiastic trainees.

Programming takes place on the machine, and the Prototrak's question and answer format has proved especially helpful to the younger operators.

'Apprentices these days are fully conversant with computers,' says Frost, 'but unlike CNC systems that use G codes and require operators to push the appropriate buttons without necessarily understanding why, this particular control teaches them the basics of machining and the correct way to construct a machining program.' The average batch size of prototype, test and pre-production components produced on the four turret mills is between 15 and 20-off, typically in aluminium, although stainless and other steels are also machined.

'These are the lowest cost machines we have ever bought,' says Frost, 'but they work seven days a week and have never let us down, despite often having the equivalent of a learner driver working on them.' Such reliability is important to the family-owned Ipeco Group, which prides itself on its creative approach to satisfying customers' demands and its project management expertise.

IPE has over 40 years experience of design and manufacture for the defence, electronics and aerospace industries, while Ipeco has emerged as the world's leading supplier of flight deck and specialist aircrew seating.

These seats are the preferred choice of more than 300 airlines, with more than 27 000 seats in service.

The current portfolio features some 50 models of seat, ranging from simple designs for utility aircraft to de luxe fully adjustable and individually shaped versions for executive jets.

ISO 9001 accredited IPE is responsible for producing the complex and tightly toleranced components needed to withstand gravitational forces up to 16G.

It is also a key player in the Ipeco Group's strategy of component commonality, the objective being cost effective production and predictable performance for seats that are specific to particular aircraft types and constructed to individual customer requirements.

The 75 000ft2 Southend-on-Sea plant, which in addition to machining a wide variety of complex components also produces fabricated sheet metal assemblies and a variety of intricate salt bath brazed components such as wave guides, is equipped with around 70 machine tools.

As might be expected, many of these are highly sophisticated and relatively expensive CNC machines.

However, as Arthur Blake, Support Team Leader, puts it: 'You do not have to spend a quarter of a million each time you need a new machine.

You just need to be aware of what you need it for and then make sure you buy the most suitable and cost-effective machine for the purpose.' On this basis, he adds, the XYZ machines in daily use at IPE, whether conventional or shopfloor programmable, have proved an unqualified success.