A large aerospace customer faced significant financial losses due to human error and chip contamination while using a standard High Speed Steel Countersink, where the tool depth had to be manually set. This manual process resulted in a variable scrap rate of 2 to 5 structural sections of the aircraft per year. With these structural sections costing upwards of $250,000 apiece, this was a critical drain on profitability.

Additionally, their existing tool could only produce 1 part per tool, resulting in an annual tool cost of approximately $25,000. This, alongside an extensive tool change time of approximately 110 hours per year, heavily impacted their set-up times and operational efficiency. Seeking a way to eliminate scrap, prevent chip contamination, reduce set-up time, and extend tool life, they challenged GWS Tool Group to provide a custom solution.

After reviewing the challenges and desired outcomes, we introduced a solution utilizing our PCD Posi-Stop Countersink and the GWS Tool Group Pneumatic Vacuum Drill. Since the new countersinks are pre-set to the correct depth during manufacturing, no manual set-up is required. This completely eliminated the human error that was causing the costly scrapped parts and resolved the chip contamination issues.

The new tools achieved exceptional performance, producing 10 parts per tool compared to just 1 with the previous process, and cutting the tool change time down from approximately 110 hours per year to just 20 hours. While the new process required a one-time investment of $54,000 for the pneumatic vacuum drills and an estimated annual spend of $50,000 for the PCD Posi-Stop Countersinks, the return on investment was massive. By completely eliminating the scrapped aircraft sections, preventing chip contamination, and drastically reducing set-up time, the customer realized approximately $500,000 in total cost savings per year.

Looking for Tools That Deliver Superior Performance?

Whether you’re in the aerospace sector or other high-demand industries, GWS Tool Group has the expertise and solutions to help you optimize your production. If you have specific needs that go beyond our standard offerings, our dedicated engineers are ready to design and deliver custom tools tailored to your exact requirements with rapid turnaround times. Contact us today at sales@gwstoolgroup.com to get started!