Manufacturing innovation institute installs 5-axis machining center

Lightweight Innovations For Tomorrow, a national manufacturing innovation institute, announces its Heller FP 6000 5-axis machining center has been installed, and is ready for use, at its research and manufacturing facility in the Corktown neighborhood of Detroit. With the installation of this machine, Heller is assisting LIFT and its members to further develop next generation processes in lightweight metal manufacturing.

“Our focus is all about innovations in lightweighting, which means providing our members with state-of-the-art equipment, like the new Heller 5-axis machining center, to help them achieve their goals,” said Nigel Francis, CEO and executive director of LIFT. “With access to machining tools like the Heller FP 6000, the world’s largest linear friction welder and other cutting edge machining equipment, our world-class R&D center for metalworking is the global resource for innovation.”

With this new FP 6000 in place and in-house, LIFT now has the ability to design, produce and test full-scale parts and components over a large material spectrum, enabling its members to develop and deploy new and advanced materials manufacturing processes and cutting-edge technologies for the metalcutting industry.

About the HELLER FP6000:

• State-of-the-art 5-axis machining center with 5th axis in the tool
• Configured with a pallet changer enhancing production cycle times
• Simultaneous 5-side machining that utilizes a swivel head or tilting head kinematics
• Universal machining center is suitable for machining a large range of parts over a wide material spectrum
• Easy to automate system with workpiece or pallet automation for high-volume applications
• Optimizes parts costs by reducing the number of clamping positions and complete machining in one set-up
• Large part capability with a positioning range of (X/Y/Z): 1,000/1,000/1,300 mm and load capacity of 1,400 kg.

“Our partnership with LIFT allows us the opportunity to not only showcase and demonstrate our technology, but also help LIFT and its members achieve their lightweighting goals,” said Steve Pegram, vice president, Heller Machine Tools.

“The Heller FP 6000 machining center is the right choice for anyone wanting to perform numerous functions on one machine and produce reliably, not just today, but in the future as well. We’re excited to see what LIFT and its members innovate from it,” Pegram added.

To see a time lapse video of the machining center installation, click here.