Seven years of development and several million dollars of investment at Cincinnati Machine will bear fruit this morning as Gov. Bob Taft announces the first order for the Oakley company's ultra high-speed machine center.

Application Engineer Mike Zambenedetti of Milford controls a machine tool at the Cincinnati Machine facility in Oakley Tuesday morning. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        At a news conference, the governor is expected to announce that Brek Manufacturing Co., a leading subcontractor for the Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport, has placed a $1.6 million order for the first of Cincinnati Machine's HyperMach High Rail Gantry Systems.

        The huge machine — 80 feet long by about 10.5 feet wide — is designed to cut large aircraft structural parts such as wings and frames out of single, large aluminum billets at speeds up to 85 percent faster than conventional machine tools.

        “It allows manufacturers to process parts much, much faster. It's like the difference between traveling in a two-seat Cessna aircraft and flying in the Concorde,” said Chip Storie, vice president of marketing for the unit of Unova Corp.

        An $859,000 Ohio Technology Action Grant to Cincinnati Machine and TechSolve, the Bond Hill manufacturing resources organization, a year and half ago was key to bringing the new machine to market.

        “It really gave us the ability to keep the program going,” Mr. Storie said.

        The money was used to further refine machine engineering and test it in real metal-working situations at TechSolve.

        The governor is expected to cite the investment as an example of his Third Frontier initiative, a 10-year, $1.6 billion effort to create more high-tech, high-paying jobs through an expansion of high-tech research.

        Cutting parts from a single piece of metal reduces manufacturing time by eliminating the assembly of smaller components with bolts and rivets into larger structures, Mr. Storie said.

        Brek plans to use the HyperMach when it is installed next year at its Gardena, Calif., plant to cut 50-foot-long and 10-foot-wide floor beams for the Boeing C-17 from a single piece of aluminum.

        Brek has been one of Cincinnati Machine's best customers. Earlier this year, it placed a $4.7 million order for two other profilers, which will also be used to craft parts for the C-17.

        Using a series of magnet-driven linear motors rather than ball screws used on traditional machine tools allows the HyperMach to cut metal at speeds of up to 4,000 inches a minute rather than speeds of 400 to 1,000 inches a minute on traditional machines.

        The linear motors supplied by Siemens AG allow the HyperMach to accelerate and decelerate instantly, speeding up the process of cutting complex shapes. In more traditional machine tools, the motors slow as the cutting tool approaches corners or turns, slowing the cutting process.

        Cincinnati Machine isn't the first machine tool builder to attempt to develop an ultra high-speed machining center, but earlier efforts by competitors to commercialize the technology haven't been very successful, Mr. Storie said.

        He said Cincinnati Machine, which began working on the HyperMach in 1995, has taken a slower approach to make sure the technology is mature before introducing its own machine to the market.

        “We want to lead the technology, not bleed from it,” he said.

        Cincinnati Machines envisions a global market for about 40 of the large aerospace profilers like that being sold to Brek, but that's just the tip of the market potential.

        Eventually, Cincinnati Machine sees the technology being adapted for all its metal-cutting machines.

        The company introduced the HyperMach at the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago two years ago. It plans to highlight the commercial launch again at the biennial show in early September.

Builder sued for debts of company
WCPO offered $7.5M to move
Cincinnati Machine aids jet builders
Heat demands push Cinergy to record peaks
Chiquita starts full rehab
Industry notes: Banking 5/3 boosts stock service on P&G deal
Consumers show nervousness
Vanguard Airlines suspends operation
Business Digest
Tristate Summary
Morning Memo
PEALE: What's the Buzz?