CompositesWorld
Issue link: https://cw.epubxp.com/i/697353
35 CompositesWorld.com NEWS N E W S N S N E W S E N W S W Carbures Spain as Composystem (where Jerez's Lopez was employed), it was acquired by Carbures in November 2013. Pastor explains that the 8,600m 2 facility, with its roughly 100 employees, has a longer history than the Jerez facilities. "We have a longer chain of bench- marks and quality improvements at this location," says Pastor, who adds that Carbures Illescas is an award-winning Airbus supplier. Here, Pastor reiterates the importance of worker team commu- nication and expands on Carbures' lean manufacturing and quality initiatives: "We've implemented a program called SQCDP (Safety, Quality, Cost, Delivery and People), which is in the process of being implemented company wide, to meet key metrics, espe- cially on-time part delivery." As one example, communications from Stelia or Airbus, whether negative or positive, are posted on the lean meeting area wall; when a complaint has been rectifed, that action is communicated as well, to close the loop. "We're now going to add a new letter to SQCDP," he adds: "'F' for foreign object detection, and implement FOD elimination procedures that will further reduce our already-low scrap rate." Te Illescas plant also has all of the previously described, aerospace-required ISO and Nadcap qualifcations. Although the building is almost 20 years old and, unlike Jerez, not designed with workfow in mind, its processes nevertheless have been optimized to maximize output of mostly small, mono- lithic carbon/epoxy parts made via hand layup for the Airbus A380. Additional parts for the A350 program are produced for Stelia. One obvious non-carbon part is a complex-shaped, cored fberglass dorsal fn fairing for the A380, the only fberglass part produced at the plant. In front of the recently redesigned freezer, Pastor explains the "quality reception" process, in which small samples of incoming Hexcel prepreg batches are collected and tested. In the cleanroom nearby, Plazas points out the "experience matrix," a wall chart that lists every layup technician and each one's length of service. Tis enables assembly of layup teams in which less-experienced workers are grouped with an expert. Layup kits are assembled from plies cut on a Gerber Technology (Tolland, CT, US) auto- mated fatbed cutting machine. Says Pastor, "We designed an in-house nesting program for the CNC cutter to ensure minimal prepreg cutting waste." When layups are bagged and prepped for cure, Plazas explains that Carbures' batch-cure strategies maximize the space within each autoclave and take advantage of their known heat circulation characteristics. Te larger, US-manufactured autoclave, at 15m by 3m, can accommodate two tiers of parts and, she explains, years of experience have shown which parts should be placed on the upper or lower level, and how far from the door. A smaller, 3.5m by 1.5m autoclave from Olmar is used in tandem with the larger vessel. As is the case at Jerez, parts undergo post-cure NDT, using a Technatom C-scan unit, are spot checked with handheld pulse- echo A-scan instruments and then undergo dimensional scans with a Faro arm or, for older program parts (A380, A320), are placed in calibration tools and jigs. Directly across from the NDT area is an enclosed quality labora- tory that houses an Instron (Norwood, MA, US) test frame and a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tester from TA Instruments Illescas: Airbus & prepreg The Carbures Illescas plant is a stone's throw from the Airbus plant, and most parts produced here are destined for the Toulouse, France-based OEM's A380 and A350 XWB. Here, Hexcel (Parla, Spain) prepreg is checked into the freezer area at the plant. Source | CW / Photo | Sara Black In-house cutting/kitting operations The cleanroom at Illescas employs this Gerber Technology (Tolland, CT, US) automated fatbed cutting system for its material cutting and kitting activities. Source | CW / Photo | Sara Black Autoclaves kept busy at Illescas A bagged part ready to go into an autoclave in the Carbures Illescas facility. The Illescas autoclaves currently run three shifts, fve days a week, and CW's tour guides say the plant is only at 50% capacity and Airbus production is ramping up. Source | Carbures