Gardner Aerospace recently ordered a high-pressure fluid cell press from Quintus Technologies for its new manufacturing plant at Chengdu, China, to supply the domestic aerospace market there, as well as foreign buyers. The 800 bar (11,600 psi) Flexform™ press matches a comparable machine installed by Gardner at its plant in Mazères, France, where it has consolidated several forming operations and intermediate heat treatment steps, and achieved significant cost savings.
Both presses have a forming area of 700 x 1800 mm (27.6 x 73 inches.)
“We’re very pleased that Gardner trusts us to be a part of their expansion into the Chinese market,” stated Quintus Technologies CEO Jan Söderström.
The Flexform series of fluid cell, sheet-metal forming machines is designed for prototyping and lower volume parts production. Quintus Technologies has designed, built, and installed more than 150 Flexform fluid-cell presses for major manufacturers worldwide, including for Airbus, Ford, Boeing, Daimler-Benz, Bombardier, BMW, Embraer, and Volvo.
Gardner Aerospace produces "high-quality, detailed" aircraft parts and sub-assemblies for OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, including Airbus, Gulfstream, Pilatus, Spirit, GKN, Stelia Aerospace, Ruag, and Safran.
“We chose Quintus because they are an established manufacturer of quality presses,” says Christopher Owen, project director at Chengdu at Gardner Aerospace. “It made perfect sense to continue the relationship with Quintus when investing in Gardner’s new global flagship facility in Chengdu. The capability and reliability of Gardner’s existing Quintus press combined with the excellent support provided by Quintus made the machine selection process simple.”