In a former life circa 1995 I worked for Government in the industry assistance area. I was privileged to work with about several Australian ultra high quality metal working companies on a variety of projects. The Australian dollar was around 70 cents or less.
Airbus, Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, GE and Lockheed could not get enough machined product made by these guys - engine parts like rings, housings, etc. airframe parts like ribs machined from solid in inconel, hastelloy, steel, aluminium, titanium, etc. Military and civil. Many of these guys were "around Melbourne".
Some of their work was mindbogglingly exquisite - like a CF6 bearing housing that started as a five kilo Inconel forging and ended up as a few hundred grams of tracery with about 50 thou walls accurate to tenths of the proverbial gnats. GE couldn't work out how they did it. Inconel is a bastard to machine, but a bright Australian found the secret. There were dozens and dozens of cases like this - from the manufacture of tiny helicoil inserts to double cut plunge grinding of turbine blade roots.
They couldn't keep up with demand and were making so much money some owners were buying new Ferraris each year, nothing vulgar like Mercedes.
The fly in the ointment was that none of these companies had any Australian aviation accreditation beyond ISO 9000 that was internationally recognised. That meant that all of them were constrained to be what were called "Third tier" suppliers because nothing they produced could be certified by themselves for aircraft use. All their product was certified by either their first or second tier customers - our Australian companies couldn't capture the true value of their product because there was no Australian equivalent certification and being approved by EASA of the FAA was too expensive and difficult to arrange remotely. Neither could they move up the value chain and bid for larger sub assemblies.
* The Inconel bearing housing machining was particularly difficult because the final wall sections were so thin that clamping the workpiece to avoid distortion during machining was a huge problem. The Australian solution was simple, elegant and cheap. GE was driven mad trying to find out how it was done. They eventually forced disclosure of this trade secret by legal subterfuge.
P2 - Chocfrog to you Wombat...solid gold post, keep them coming mate -
ps KC sends his regards...
Airbus, Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, GE and Lockheed could not get enough machined product made by these guys - engine parts like rings, housings, etc. airframe parts like ribs machined from solid in inconel, hastelloy, steel, aluminium, titanium, etc. Military and civil. Many of these guys were "around Melbourne".
Some of their work was mindbogglingly exquisite - like a CF6 bearing housing that started as a five kilo Inconel forging and ended up as a few hundred grams of tracery with about 50 thou walls accurate to tenths of the proverbial gnats. GE couldn't work out how they did it. Inconel is a bastard to machine, but a bright Australian found the secret. There were dozens and dozens of cases like this - from the manufacture of tiny helicoil inserts to double cut plunge grinding of turbine blade roots.
They couldn't keep up with demand and were making so much money some owners were buying new Ferraris each year, nothing vulgar like Mercedes.
The fly in the ointment was that none of these companies had any Australian aviation accreditation beyond ISO 9000 that was internationally recognised. That meant that all of them were constrained to be what were called "Third tier" suppliers because nothing they produced could be certified by themselves for aircraft use. All their product was certified by either their first or second tier customers - our Australian companies couldn't capture the true value of their product because there was no Australian equivalent certification and being approved by EASA of the FAA was too expensive and difficult to arrange remotely. Neither could they move up the value chain and bid for larger sub assemblies.
* The Inconel bearing housing machining was particularly difficult because the final wall sections were so thin that clamping the workpiece to avoid distortion during machining was a huge problem. The Australian solution was simple, elegant and cheap. GE was driven mad trying to find out how it was done. They eventually forced disclosure of this trade secret by legal subterfuge.
P2 - Chocfrog to you Wombat...solid gold post, keep them coming mate -
ps KC sends his regards...