Staying ahead of a fast-moving turbine industry

Citation

(2002), "Staying ahead of a fast-moving turbine industry", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 74 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2002.12774faf.002

Staying ahead of a fast-moving turbine industry

Staying ahead of a fast-moving turbine industry

Keywords: Aerospace industry, Gas turbines, Machining

The Netherlands-based Eldim works in close partnership with several leading aerospace and industrial gas turbine OEMs to develop engine parts to expand their efficiency. Since November 2000, the company is part of the Sulzer Corporation. Through many years’ experience and well-founded knowledge, Eldim has become a leading supplier of components for aero engines and industrial gas turbines.

In every aspect of its business, Eldim is an adaptive company – one that forms working relationships with customers to offer true value. A large percentage of Eldim’s current business activities involve the development of turbine engine parts in partnerships with several aero engine and industrial gas turbine (IGT) OEMs. Begun mainly as a non-conventional machining/drilling service firm, Eldim’s business endeavors have expanded greatly, but the company still provides non-conventional machining operations including electro discharge machining (EDM), electro chemical machining (ECM), (ECD) electro chemical drilling (ECD) and laser to many customers. As ECD is a fairly special process, Eldim is currently the only major company in Europe to offer it. Although more common, Eldim’s lengthy experience in the field of EDM service is a key customer benefit.

These non-conventional processes – in tandem with several conventional machining processes, including milling, turning, grinding, machining, and welding services – have allowed Eldim to offer customers the range of services they may require to deliver a complete solution.

Practical planning – innovative thinking

Customers who rely on Eldim to supply quality components to their specifications are well aware of the company’s beliefs:

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  Continuous improvement: Through a detailed program that involves cell production, performance measurements, extensive training, and the specific application of innovation and development, Eldim is able to continuously improve the production process.

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  Maintaining focus: By staying focused on primary product-market combinations, Eldim is able to deliver specialized services to the aero engine and industrial gas turbine industries (Figure 2).

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  Participation in new engine programs: Through dedicated marketing, co-engineering, and careful investing, Eldim is consistently analyzing new engine programs where its participation could lead to future innovations.

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  Forward/backward integration: Eldim is always looking to provide additional services that strengthen relationships with existing customers, and help attract new ones. that is why the company is working to expand its current products and services to include supplying engine-ready parts (Plate 3), making it a “one-stop shop” for the companies it serves. The production process consists of four steps: casting, grinding, drilling holes, and coating – and Eldim’s plan is to offer most steps in the process.

Figure 2 Eildim continuously improves its production process in order to deliver top-end services to it scustomers, for instances by mking more and more use of CAD (Unigraphics V17) for the design and optimization of tooling for the drilling of cooling holes in a complex 3D industrial gas turbine blade.

Plate 3 By acquiring Eldim, Sulzer Metco offers no longer only coating solutions but also turbine components. The figure shows a fabricated low-pressure turbine seal segment for the Pratt and Whitney PW4000 aero engine.

This focus has helped Eldim achieve respect in its key product market combinations, which include: seals, airfoils, stator vanes and assemblies, vane inserts, and fuel nozzle swirlers for aero engines; and seals, airfoils, and vane inserts for industrial gas turbines. With an emphasis on aero engine and IGT business, Eldim is currently the European leader (and second in the US) in airfoil processing, in terms of volume, quality, and technology. The company is also the world leader in the same categories for seals.

This success is largely due to Eldim’s strong personal relationships with customers formed over many years. Such relationships are extremely important in these industries because of the need for close co-operation between companies, frequently involving lengthy manufacturing agreements.

Entering a new era of productivity

Since being acquired in October of 2000 by Sulzer, Eldim has benefited from its affiliation with Sulzer Metco, maintaining its specialized capabilities even as the company enters exciting new market venues with several customers. While Eldim has established a great many new long-term contracts for the development of turbine components and replacement parts with the customers previously served, the company has now entered into several manufacturing agreements, ranging from 5 to 10 years, that involve a variety of new engine programs.

The staff at Eldim is very excited about the future. The market potential of the vane inserts the company manufactures in its new low-cost production facility in Hungary is very high, and is just one example of the ventures expected to help the company grow in the future. As part of Sulzer Metco, Eldim can continue to look into even larger growth scenarios down the road.

For more details contact: Eldim B.V., Jan Rietdijk, Spikweien 24, NL-5943 AD Lomm, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0)77-473 87 63; Fax: +31 (0)77-473 24 85; E-mail: jan.rietdijk@eldim.nl; Internet: www.eldim.nl

Jan RietdijkSulzer Metco