As a licenced exporter of products for use in the aerospace & defence industry AFT Fluorotec is well qualified to export such goods, but exactly what goods are we talking about here? Why doesn’t the customer simply buy the parts required for the original aircraft manufacturer rather than coming to an independent Fluoropolymer and plastics expert?
To understand this, first, we must understand the manufacturing process used for insulators within Aerospace connectors.
At the inception of a new aircraft, the manufacturers involved will determine the best process based on the anticipated lifecycle and volume of parts. For very complex parts like electronic connector insulators, the cost-effective process is normally injection moulding.
Certainly, machining higher volumes of very complex components is expensive with enormous requirements on inspection and testing due to the variables within the process. Injection moulding it is then.
But what happens 30 years later, when the aircraft has been out of mainstream production for some years, OR production volumes are now small versus original demand. And the injection moulding tool used for the original parts is worn out. A new tool is £75k and only 20 parts are needed per year… The numbers don’t work.
That is where we come in. We work extensively in the manufacture of such components suffering exactly this scenario. Thanks to the skill level of our technicians and the incredible technology we have within our manufacturing equipment, we can identify the original material and mould it into semi-finished blocks ready for machining.
We can then perform the hugely complex machining required to replicate the original moulded items, perform 100% non-contact visual inspection on every single detail, and provide this inspection report with the goods to ensure we have made an exact replica of the original items.
This is not a special service we offer in only very special circumstances. It has actually formed a large part of the business.
And of course, should the customer be overseas, we have the licencing and expertise required to export the goods.
If you have such requirements please get in touch.
