Leading composite component manufacturer GTR Composites Group has reduced chassis setup time by more than 66% following the introduction of advanced CNC metrology into its manufacturing processes. MSP PerfectPart has helped the company meet increasingly demanding customer requirements whilst also strengthening its position in the highly competitive motorsport sector.
The company are facing a challenge familiar to many advanced manufacturers: customer expectations are rising, tolerances are becoming tighter, and components are growing more complex. According to GTR, parts that would have been impossible to machine five years ago are now becoming routine requirements.
“The expectation has gone crazy in pursuit of perfect lap times”, said Steven Davis, Lead Machine Shop Engineer at GTR. “And we know that the accuracy of the chassis is directly affected by how we set up and machine it”.
Achieving the required accuracy was becoming a challenge for GTR, however, due to part deformation from the mould, often causing sections of the chassis to be out by a millimetre or more. This meant aligning parts was a labour-intensive process, taking up to 15 hours per part.
And, despite the lengthy setup time, errors would still appear after machining. Steven recalled: “We could set up a chassis and think everything looked acceptable but then the results would come back and it wasn’t good news. When you’ve already spent hours on it, that’s pretty soul-destroying”.
Seeking a more robust and repeatable approach, GTR introduced MSP PerfectPart on its Zimmermann FZU400 machine. The suite of metrology products combines AutoClock, NC-Checker and NC-PartLocator to automate critical CNC processes, monitor machine performance and remove manual error from setup routines.
The greatest impact has come from NC-PartLocator, which measures components on the machine using 5-axis probing and uses the data to automatically compensate for misalignment errors. The software takes issues such as part deformation into account and generates an updated alignment without the need for manual adjustment. As a result, GTR has cut setup time by 10 hours per chassis whilst also giving the team confirmation that the part alignment is accurate.
It has also simplified GTR’s fixturing. Steven said: “We now don’t have to create a fixture from the ground up each time. We just place it on the machine and probe the part with the confidence that the software will work out where it is”.
He continued: “The reduction in time, along with the repeatability of the setup, has been a godsend on recent projects. NC-PartLocator is a game-changer, I never want to set up another race chassis without it”.
Alongside setup improvements, NC-Checker has also helped GTR move away from a reactive maintenance strategy. By benchmarking CNC machine performance and monitoring geometric accuracy over time, the company can identify potential issues before they affect production. At the beginning, the software revealed an error in the C-axis before the machine was laser aligned, allowing this to be corrected before parts were cut.
Steven said: “We now always run a full NC-Checker Benchmark to look at everything from the axes and repeatability through to probe health. Then we’re safe in the knowledge that the machine is producing the best possible parts”.
The benefits from MSP PerfectPart extend beyond the shopfloor. With customers increasingly asking for evidence of quality, GTR is now using MSP-generated reports to demonstrate machining accuracy and provide greater confidence. Group Business & Operations Development Manager at GTR, Tom Hay, said: “I now have the confidence when approaching new tenders, especially high-risk projects. I know we’ve got the tools to iron out any issues, and I can prove both the consistency and quality of supply”.
And GTR’s strategy definitely seems to be working, with the increased capability and reliability attracting a greater volume of work. Tom said: “As soon as you reach a certain level of accuracy, it naturally becomes the new baseline. We want to stay ahead of that curve and continue to go above and beyond for our customers”.
In a sector where microns can be the difference between winning and losing, GTR is ensuring it drives forward in the pursuit of ultimate part accuracy with MSP PerfectPart. With a faster, repeatable setup process, machine performance assessments, and data to prove the quality of every part, it certainly seems that GTR is on a winning streak.
For more information, visit https://mspltd.com/.