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Okuma opens Aerospace Center of Excellence

Okuma America Corp. has announced the opening of an Aerospace Center of Excellence at its facility in Charlotte, N.C. The company will debut the center at its annual open house on Dec. 9 and 10.

The center is open to aerospace manufacturers for use as a testing and proving ground for advanced CNC machining technology to enhance productivity while solving challenges faced by the industry.

The nearly 10,000-sq.-ft. space houses nine CNC machines worth more than $6.5 million. The space includes a fully operational metrology room with CMM equipment and other quality-measurement devices, as well as a conference room. Visitors also have access to the Partners in THINC facility, which houses an additional 16 machines, valued at $4.5 million, from entry-level CNC lathes to machining centers and grinders.

In addition to Okuma equipment and dedicated engineering personnel, facility activities will incorporate resources from members of Partners in THINC, enabling access to an additional 50 suppliers of peripheral equipment and accessories. Tooling, workholding, gauging, and software necessary to optimize manufacturing processes will be available, as will the corresponding engineering experts.

“We envision that the facility will be used by various levels of aerospace suppliers, from Tier 3 to OEMs, to help them test new equipment, processes, and materials. We’ve been working with our partners to improve exotic metal cutting through the use of tool management software, cutting tool selection, and other productivity enhancements, and now we want to help the actual manufacturers with these same challenges,” noted Jim Kosmala, vice president of technology.