Delcam is pleased to announce its UK Division has been approved for aerospace projects to the AS/EN9100 and ISO9100:2003 standards following a recent inspection by BSI.
The approval covers the modelling, reverse engineering and machining facilities offered by the company's in-house toolroom, plus the installation, training and support services provided to its CADCAM software customers. It has come at an opportune time for the company which will be exhibiting on the North-West Aerospace Alliance stand at the Farnborough Air Show next week.

Delcam has always been unique among international CADCAM software developers in having its own in-house toolroom.

Like the main software business, the toolroom has seen the balance of its business change in recent years, with a move from its previous focus on the toolmaking industry to a greatly increased involvement in the aerospace sector.

'Although smaller than our software business, the Tooling Services Division still turns over around and#8356;1 million annually,' explained Division Director, Brian Hawkshaw.

'While we operate as an independent profit centre, the main benefit is the ability to test our software in circumstances similar to our customers, on real jobs with real deadlines'.

Furthermore, the manufacturing expertise within Delcam forms an important part of the comprehensive support given by the company to all its software customers.

It allows users to be given advice on all areas of their work, including aspects like the best choice of machining strategy and cutter selection, as well as the operation of the software.

The facilities are also used by Delcam's Professional Services Group to undertake pre-production trials within the innovative manufacturing projects it undertakes.

'We added a Huron KX200 machine, fitted with the Siemens 840D control, last year for large-scale five-axis machining'.

'Since then, we have worked with both Siemens and Huron to increase our expertise in continuous five-axis operation, especially for aerospace applications where the Siemens control is widely used,' claimed Mr Hawkshaw.

'This close collaboration has helped us to reach the high standards needed for our successful accreditation'.

Being able to test it software on-site obviously gives Delcam a major advantage in proving out new versions of its programs.

'Many CAM systems generate data that is mathematically correct but that is often impossible to machine in practice,' explained Mr Hawkshaw.

'The toolroom has played its part in establishing PowerMILL's leading position for high-speed machining and five-axis machining'.

'When potential software customers first hear about Delcam, they often ask why we operate the toolroom,' concluded Mr Hawkshaw.

'Once they have seen our facilities and we have explained the benefits, both in the reliability of the software and in the quality of our support, they find it difficult to understand how other CAM developers expect to develop and sell software without a similar resource'.