BAE (British AeroSpace)

At BAE Systems, Inc. Precision Aerostructures, Wellington, Kansas, one of the world's largest independent spar mill shops

OpenCNC will eventually be controlling over 70 machines. With a cost savings of ten to one (retrofitting with OpenCNC versus buying new machines), the decision to commit to OpenCNC was easy for director of facilities, John Ashworth.

"In aerospace, you need to be able to change quickly," he said. "OpenCNC allows us to be competitive without buying new machines."

OpenCNC started on one Onsrud and two Hillyers 3-8 axis spar mills at Marconi. One immediate result was that all three machines began running faster. According to Ashworth, travel on the Hillyers increased from 100 inches/minute to 550 inches/minute after retrofitting with OpenCNC. Plus, running OpenCNC is a "piece of cake," he says. "OpenCNC allows us to incorporate new technology as it evolves. Because it's open architecture software, we now have machining centers that will evolve and improve as machining technology evolves and improves."

Precision Aerostructures, Wellington, Kansas, is part British Aerospace. and makes wing spars and other parts for commercial, general aviation and military aircraft.