Armor Meca modernizes its production processes to maintain its competitive edge
50 years of excellence in aerospace machining
A flagship of the aeronautics industry, Armor Meca specializes in high-precision machining and sub-assembly. Founded in 1965, this family-run business boasts expertise recognized by some of the world's leading prime contractors (Airbus, Stelia, Safran, Thales, MBDA, etc.), with whom it has forged bonds of trust over more than 50 years. As the company has evolved, it has also positioned itself in the highly demanding defense, energy, naval and medical sectors. Its motto: "Develop a new industrial model that is humane, responsible and efficient, to meet the challenges of the 21st century."
To meet these challenges, Armor Meca has placed innovation at the heart of its strategy. "Technological innovation, with new products and processes such as metal additive manufacturing; social innovation, with ambitious training plans and eco-responsible initiatives such as the planting of a tree by each new employee; and environmental innovation, with cutting oil recycling and energy autonomous production by 2020," explains Sébastien Colas, the company's managing director.
From 5-axis machining to the digital factory
When Sebastien Colas took over from his father in 2008, he decided, in a difficult economic context for the aerospace industry, to produce more complex parts with higher added value, and to extend his range to new metals such as titanium. Aware of the technological challenges, he wanted to modernize his production processes and methods, and equip himself with software tools to support his development strategy: these were the first steps towards digitalization.
The use of Siemens software dates back to 2008. At the time, Armor Meca was equipped with Top Solid CAM software. Sébastien Colas called on JANUS Engineering, a Siemens partner and leading reseller of NX CAD/CAM solutions in France, to help him define and implement a global CAD/CAM solution to match his ambitions. At the time, Armor meca was equipping itself with increasingly high-performance 5-axis machines, which required a cutting-edge CAM system to improve programming lead times, quality and security. "The company acquired its first 3 NX Cam licenses in 2008", recalls Nicolas Simon, CEO of JANUS Engineering.
Today, Armor Meca has a modern fleet of 70 machines, 75% of which are 5-axis. Complex aluminum parts are machined "in the air" to minimize surface defects and reduce cycle times. This is a delicate operation, requiring advanced CAM programming know-how, which few companies are able to provide. Three robotized cells control the machines: from raw material and pallet loading, to the positioning of cutting tools, right through to three-dimensional inspection of machined parts.
Production is organized in 5 buildings: raw materials storage, machining of aluminum parts, machining of hard materials, metrology and additive manufacturing, all on an area of 10,000m2.
« Every day, our teams innovate to invent the factory of the future by automating a growing share of our production resources, which will soon reach 60% of our machine park. With Siemens software, we automate our manufacturing methods, thanks to the implementation of digital twins on our machine tools and the optimization of our production flows."
Sébastien Colas, Armor Meca Managing Director
Une transition digitale d'ampleur
From NX CAD/CAM to Teamcenter Manufacturing & SIMATIC IT Preactor
Armor Meca is equipped with 11 NX CAM licenses and 5 NX CAD licenses dedicated to model preparation for CAM or co-design.
"We work from CAD files supplied by our customers. We particularly appreciate NX's interoperability and its highly visual machining simulation functions, which are a great help in our day-to-day work. NX Cam has an integrated post-processing system that generates the machine's ISO code directly, without the need for a third-party post-processor: a major advantage."
Cédric in charge of the Methods & Industrialization Department
Armor Meca recently implemented Teamcenter Manufacturing to replace "file" management with "database" management: 60 workstations are now equipped with centralized, collaborative access to CAD/CAM data. Designers, engineers and machine programmers work in close collaboration from a single source of information. The benefits have been immediate: smoother communication between different departments, conflict management between different versions of data, and improved traceability of modifications.
In the near future, Armor Meca also plans to deploy SIMATIC IT Preactor to optimize production line flows and raw material loading in the warehouse. The use of the NX MKE (Machining Knowledge Editor) tool should also make it possible to standardize and accelerate programming tasks, thus reducing programming times through greater reusability. To date, the benefits of software implementation are numerous and tangible: reduced NC programming and machining times, improved surface finish, greater precision and part quality, reduced production time and errors, and optimized use of manufacturing resources.
"JANUS Engineering has been supporting us for ten years in setting up and optimizing our environment. They are a trusted partner with both Siemens software expertise and a thorough understanding of our industrial processes and business."
Cédric in charge of the Methods & Industrialization Department
Technology at the service of people
« In 1965, my father started out as a fitter at AcMoc, the forerunner of Armor Meca. He worked his way up to workshop manager, then bought the company in early 1987. It's the same passion that has driven us ever since. I want to put technology at the service of people and their social development.
Sébastien Colas, Armor Meca Managing Director
The company has developed an ambitious training program to enable its employees to progress in their profession.
"When new recruits or students on apprenticeship contracts arrive, we give them a full month's training. This is a real asset for their integration into the company and for their future career development."
David, internal trainer at Armor Meca
Project for the future
With a strategy of continuous investment, Armor Meca provides its customers with innovative, state-of-the-art industrial facilities. Over the past 10 years, the Breton company has increased the size of its facilities by a factor of 4, and has risen to the challenge of digitalization with flying colors. It plans to build a new building to double its production area by 2020, and is pursuing its international expansion.
With the support of JANUS, it will continue to deploy Teamcenter Manufacturing and SIMATIC IT Preactor. It also plans to implement Siemens metrology solutions (CMM).
In 2014, Armor Meca acquired 70% of SLS France, a company specialized in the computer-aided design and manufacture of dental and medical prostheses. It intends to develop this metal additive manufacturing activity, which is constantly progressing to offer innovative manufacturing models.
"It's both a means of diversification and a source of inspiration for new activities and products. The company's constant is its ability to evolve !"
Sébastien Colas, Armor Meca Managing Director