New machining centre and robot operational at Liebherr-Aerospace

Liebherr-Verzahntechnik, Liebherr’s center of excellence for gear technology and automation systems, supplied the robot. This innovation allows Liebherr-Aerospace to strengthen and modernise its production capacities and opens the door for Liebherr-Verzahntechnik to enter the aerospace market.

The machining centre features a six-wheel tool magazine, which contains 363 cutting tools. It is equipped with a 52 kW/430 Nm milling spindle that can rotate at 12,000 rpm. In addition, an IoT connector package enables real-time monitoring of the equipment and remote maintenance. The rotary loading system can lift up to 1.5 tons and stores up to 15 work pieces in its cell.

The different modes of control ensure autonomy and flexibility in production. Waiting times are thus significantly reduced and Liebherr-Aerospace can respond and adapt better to future market demands. As a man/machine interface, this new system will also facilitate the work of operators by refocusing them on high value-added tasks.

“During the pre-investment consultation phases, the integration of Liebherr-Verzahntechnik in our project had several advantages in terms of technology and synergy potential within the Liebherr Group,” explained Mathieu Oulié, methods engineer at Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse. “From the design phase to the entry-into-service, the mutual trust and communication were the main drivers for success. Having Liebherr-Verzahntechnik as an industrial partner allows us to continuously improve the reliability of our production means and to guarantee best performance. Thanks to the flexibility and configuration of this robot, we will be able to meet the new requirements of our customers and ensure future increases in production rate.”

“For Liebherr-Verzahntechnik, it was important to be able to offer a solution tailored to one of the specific needs of the aerospace market,” added Charles Mannocci, country manager automation systems at Liebherr-Verzahntechnik. “Based on the RLS 1500, we have integrated a special pallet gripping system enabling to preserve the specific pallets (zero point system) already used by Liebherr-Aerospace Toulouse, while allowing a higher load capacity and a larger size. The whole Liebherr Group benefits from this "win-win" cooperation between our two divisions, improving the productivity of one and allowing access to a new market for the other.”

www.liebherr.com/geartechnology