Precision Aerospace Corp, Grand Rapids, MI
About
Precision Aerospace Corp (PAC)is an example of entrepreneurial excellence. Marinus VanderKodde and Burt Ericson founded Precision Template Co. in 1956. Both were past employees of Lear Siegler and formed Precision to make sheet metal templates. The company was focused on the aerospace industry right away as we served local avionics manufacturers like Lear Siegler (now GE Aviation and National Water Lift (now Parker HSD). Roger Driesenga purchased the company in 1968 and changed the name to “Precision Sheetmetal & Machine Co., Inc.”. Under Mr. Driesenga, Precision diversified it’s competencies into machined parts and began a growth trajectory that served a more national market. William Hoyer began working at Precision in 1988 as a Product Engineer for a focused segment of the business. His role expanded quickly and in 1990 he purchased a majority ownership stake in the company. Precision’s growth and development continued including organic growth with existing customers, adding new customers and with acquisitions. In 2018 William sold PAC to Tribus Aerospace as he recognized the opportunity to scale up the business by partnering with other complex machining organizations through shared best practice. In essence PAC has evolved and expanded over the decades by identifying opportunity, focusing on core competencies and making investments in people and manufacturing technology.
We operate in 100,000 sg ft of climate controlled manufacturing space through an integrated team that provides seamless manufacturing expertise to our customers. We are principally but not exclusively a high mix, low volume build to print manufacturer with the skills and competency to provide close tolerance machining for the demanding aerospace, defense and medical industries. We produce high quality, complex machined components for our commercial aerospace, defense and medical customers. We are specialists in:
Complex 5-axis machining, value added assembly work (soldering, potting, testing, kitting, etc.), and Swiss turning of small components;
Stamping and/or machining of high permeable magnetic alloys including high perm 49, silicon core iron, B-FM, Hy Mu 80, and Hy Mu 800 including familiarity with all aspects of LVDT component manufacture;
Manufacture of mechanical gyroscope rotors including procurement, machining and assembly of tungsten rotor products;
Fuel system, augmentor and fuel manifold products, components and assemblies;
Machining exotic alloys including hastelloy X, Waspalloy, inconel, and A286;
Machining port caps, mounting flanges and front housings for aircraft hydraulic pumps;
Machining and stamping of all alloys of stainless steel and aircraft aluminum;
Solid model rendering and the economic conversion of castings to hogouts.
Capabilities
High Speed Machining. With the use of high speed machining, we are able to quickly remove material on large billet parts to get down to near net shape in roughing operations.
CNC Swiss Screw Machines. Our Swiss Screw department handles high mix, low volume product families. We have 8 production machines with 16mm, 20mm, and 32mm bar capacities. We are consistently turning product down to +/- .0005 dia. All of our programing is done off line using our CAM software so there is minimal down time when setting up a new product.
High Complexity 5-Axis Machining. Our Matsuura Cublex-35 machines have 32 pallets, 320 tools and is manned only during the first shift. This machine is capable of lights out machining for all of our high complexity Port Cap family and impellers. Our two DMG DMU-50's offer us flexibility to machine highly complex housings in as few ops as possible. This cell is supported by a roughing mill and a lathe to help with product flow and to balance cycle times.
EDM Department. Our EDM departments is made up of five Charmilles EDM machines. Four of the machines are wire EDM's and one is a sinker that is used as a Fast Hole machine.
EDM - Fast Hole Drilling. Our fast hole drilling machine will produce a .001" total tolerance hole in high Ni alloys with no burr. Not only are we Nadcap approved for this process, we hold a Pratt & Whitney approval to PWA 97-2 for Ni & Co based alloys.
Materials We Machine.
Machining and stamping of high permeable magnetic alloys including high perm 49, silicon core iron, B-FM, Hy Mu 80, and Hy Mu 800 including familiarity with all aspects of LVDT component manufacture.
Machining and stamping of all alloys of stainless steel and aircraft aluminum
Machining of exotic alloys including Hastelloy X, Waspalloy, inconel, and A286
NDT. Our NDT lab is Nadcap approved for Mag Partial Inspection (MPI) and liquid Florescent Penetrant Inspection (FPI).
Chemical Processing. We are also Nadcap certified for Chemical Processing (Passivate). We run all our Passivation in house along with taking on outside work. Along with the Nadcap approval, we are Parker Hannifin and Woodward approved as well.
Welding. We are Nadcap approved in GTAW welding to AWS D17.1 standards. We are experts at aluminum and stainless steel welding. We also build all of our fixtures in house to make sure that each component is held in the correct position during the welding process. Along with the Nadcap approval, we are also are approved by Boeing, Parker Hannifin and Woodward. These processes take us hours rather than the days that our competitors have to deal with. Having these processes in house, not only saves us time, it greatly reduces the lead time to our customers.
Engineering. PAC's engineering department continues to advance its engineering capabilities and maintain its industry leading position. Continuing investments in computer aided design, such as the latest version of the Solidworks® 3D solid modeling software, and off-line CNC programing, allow us to create the most efficient, productive, and robust manufacturing process in the industry. We have over a century's worth of design and engineering expertise going into every new product we manufacture. Our engineering group is also the most creative and agile in the industry. We are constantly adapting the latest manufacturing techniques and methods to build the most economical and efficient process on the market. Our creativity, experience, and agility allow us to quickly respond to continuously changing needs. From minor modifications to entire new part designs, we can meet the unique demands of our individual customers and be the “Partner of Choice” for your precision contract machining.
Equipment List:
Two Matsuura Cublex 32 Pallet, 320 tool Five Axis Flexible Mfg. Center
Two Kitamura Twenty Pallet, Five Axis Horizontal Machining Centers
Three DMG 50 Evo Linear Five Axis Machining Centers
One Kitamura Two Pallet 400mm, 40 Taper, Four Axis Horizontal Machining Center
One Kitamura Two Pallet, 630mm, 50 Taper, Four Axis Horizontal Machining Center
Two Kitamura Two Pallet, 500mm, 50 Taper Four Axis Horizontal Machining Centers
One Kitamura Eight Pallet, 500mm, 50 Taper Four Axis Horizontal Machining Center
Three Five Axis Vertical Machining Center
19 Four Axis Vertical Machining Centers
Ten Three Axis Vertical Machining Centers
13 Seven Axis Swiss Screw Machines
Three Six Axis Turning Center
Four Five Axis Turning Centers
12 Three Axis Turning Centers
Five Wire EDM Machines
Three Fast Hole Drill EDM Machine (one Fanuc Robotically Manned)
One programmable Sinker EDM Machine
Two Centerless Grinders
Three O.D. Grinders
One Studer S31 four axis O.D. Grinder
One Jones & Shipman UltraGrind 1000 five axis O.D / I.D. Grinder
One NASA CNC Jig Grinder
One Campbell 750 CNC Vertical Grinder
Five Surface Grinders
Two CNC Creep Feed Grinders
Once Creep Feed Grinder
Stick Lapping & Honing Cell
Complete In House Tool Room
Complete Metal Stamping & Welding Department to 150 Tons
Autofrettage and Pressure Testing Cell ▪ Cryogenic Chamber (stress relief)
Hydrogen Embrittlement Relief Ovens ▪ Environmental Test Chambers
Contact
Precision Aerospace Corp 5300 Corporate Grove Dr. Se Ste 350 Grand Rapids, MI 49512
Phone 616-243-8112 Email info@precision-aerospace.com