Canada has the world’s fifth largest aerospace industry, behind the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

High-profile Canada-based aerospace manufacturers include Bombardier, Pratt & Whitney Canada, Boeing Canada, and Bell Helicopter, and more than 700 Canadian businesses are directly involved in aerospace manufacturing.

In Canada, 85% of aerospace manufacturing focuses on commercial aviation, including the rapidly growing maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) subsector. Companies such as Ontario-based Safran and Quebec-based Heroux-Devtek are international leaders in aircraft landing and braking systems, while Ontario’s Magellan Aerospace produces aero-engine and aerostructure assemblies and components.

While about 75% of Canadian aerospace output is exported, manufacturers traditionally look beyond Canada for components and parts. The United States is the leading supplier to the Canadian aerospace industry, which makes Canada the fourth largest market for U.S. aerospace exports. According to the U.S. International Trade Administration, 2017 aerospace exports to Canada were worth $9.2 billion.

Prospects for Canada’s aerospace sector look very promising, as demand is expected to outpace supply through 2021. So, U.S. aerospace businesses interested in expanding to Canada will likely find a strong market.

Due to favorable trade incentives, customs enhancements, and logistics innovations, it’s never been easier to reach the Canadian market.

Trade incentives

Aerospace products are specifically addressed by several international trade agreements, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which remains in effect while its proposed replacement, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), is under review. NAFTA provides duty-free status to products that meet the agreement’s domestic content requirements, and duty-free status will continue under the proposed USMCA.

Other trade incentives include:

• World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft (ATCA) – U.S. and Canada are signatories; allows non-defense aerospace exports to enter Canada duty-free
• U.S.-Canada Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement (BASA) – Facilitates airworthiness approval of FAA-approved U.S. civil aerospace products by Transport Canada
• Defense Production Sharing Agreement (DFSA) – Allows U.S. companies to bid on Canadian government procurement opportunities
• International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) – Restricts the export of defense and military-related products and technologies; includes an exemption for certain U.S aerospace items bound for Canada

An important caveat about these trade incentives: a business must be proactive in securing benefits. Customs agents will not proactively assign duty-free status to a shipment or suggest other potential opportunities for savings, and with products that fall under the scope of ITAR, a shipment may be denied entry unless required documentation and permits are presented.

Since most businesses don’t have in-depth knowledge of current trade agreements, an experienced logistics provider or customs broker can identify applicable provisions and ensure shipments arrive at the border with all documentation.

Hassle-free customs

All shipments must undergo thorough examination by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), but there are opportunities to facilitate the process and mitigate duty obligations and customs fees.

Canada’s Non-Resident Importer (NRI) program allows U.S. businesses to charge Canadian sales taxes at time of purchase and serve as the importer of record in clearing shipments into Canada. Without NRI status, sales taxes and fees are paid at the time of delivery, which can frustrate Canadian customers who assume those taxes were paid upfront.

Aerospace products are often subject to review by other Canadian agencies, referred to as other government departments (OGDs), that impose documentation and permit requirements that must be satisfied before a shipment is cleared for entry. A business runs the risk of clearance delays if shipments arrive at the border with outstanding OGD requirements.

Canada’s transition to a Single Window Initiative (SWI) is another important consideration. Through the SWI, importers have a single filing system for submitting required information to CBSA, including nine OGD partner agencies. SWI eliminates paperwork and redundancies, streamlines the process, and facilitates shipment clearance. Importers must ensure their logistics partner or customs broker is a registered SWI user that has invested in an SWI-compliant technology system.

Canada’s Auditor General reported in 2017 that roughly 20% of shipments arrive at the border with an incorrect tariff classification code listed. Since tariff classification codes determine a shipment’s tariff rate and eligibility for free trade agreement benefits, it’s important to ensure the proper code is assigned.

A final option for facilitating the clearance process is to take advantage of U.S. and Canadian trusted trader programs, which offer clearance incentives to businesses that undergo rigorous application screenings and certify the security of their supply chains. In the United States, the primary trusted trader program is the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program, and in Canada, it’s Partners in Protection (PIP). A business can either seek its own membership or enlist the services of a participating logistics provider.

The right partner

Most aerospace suppliers are held to manufacturers’ rigid delivery schedules, allowing little margin for error. This can be especially trying for U.S. companies, which have the added hurdle of clearing an international border. Because of technology-based advances, logistics solutions are available that ensure on-time, highly efficient deliveries to Canada.

However, not all logistics companies have the same capabilities, and the key is to partner with an experienced provider that understands the Canadian market and has access to technology-based solutions for greater efficiency and flexibility.

Considerations include:

• Reduced transit times: With the right logistics partner, ground shipments can be delivered to Canada in two days; traditional service took an average of four days. Logistics companies that rely on established carrier networks instead of owning their assets can use technology to pinpoint the best possible solution for a shipment and avoid forcing shippers into rigid carrier schedules.
• Seamless service throughout Canada: Most Canadian carriers do not provide comprehensive service across Canada, often patching together solutions using regional carriers. For aerospace shipments, often highly fragile and time-sensitive, this approach is fraught with risk. Instead, a business should take the time to identify experienced providers with access to all Canadian provinces and territories.
• Service to non-urban areas: While roughly 80% of Canada’s aerospace manufacturing takes place in Quebec (52%) and Ontario (28%), well-served by transportation companies, a U.S. business must consider deliveries to less-developed regions. It’s important to ensure that a logistics partner can provide guaranteed, on-time deliveries to more remote regions.
• U.S.-based sourcing: In many instances, faster access to the Canadian market has allowed U.S. businesses to eliminate the need for a Canadian distribution center. Instead, inventory is sourced in the United States and regularly transported either directly to customers or to strategically located warehouses.
• Consolidation services: Consolidation of smaller shipments can be effective to reduce freight costs and facilitate the clearance process. Shipments combined into a single, larger unit often qualify for reduced rates, passing through customs as a single unit.

With Canadian aerospace companies sourcing more than 50% of parts from the United States, global demand for Canadian equipment will continue to be a boon for U.S. suppliers. With significant trade incentives, customs efficiencies, and logistics capabilities to help guide the way, U.S. suppliers should take advantage.

Purolator International 

Critical aerospace engine turbine fan blades and high-bypass turbines produce much of the forward thrust. In the past, precision-forged blades needed only light finishing to achieve tolerances. Growing requirements for fuel efficiency now demand tighter tolerances, and many manufacturers have responded by machining oversize forgings to final net shape.

Typically machined from titanium alloys, newer blade materials include aluminum and carbon-fiber composites. Carbon-fiber blades attach titanium leading edges to the relatively brittle composite material – a design element minimizing damage if an engine ingests foreign objects. Titanium aluminide used in blades in the low-pressure sections of some new engines is very brittle but provides high heat resistance.

Futuristic materials and the complex shapes required to securely unite them into a single turbine blade need equally futuristic machining processes – particularly when it comes to machine movement. Changing direction quickly is important in machining as it is in auto racing. On a straight track, acceleration and deceleration are relatively simple, but when the track turns, the car must decelerate to negotiate the corner and accelerate back to top speed again. The winning car will decelerate into the curve, track the turn accurately, and accelerate back out more quickly than competitors.

When machining the edges of a turbine blade, 5-axis movement is much more demanding than driving on a race circuit, but the principles are the same. Machines must move tools around the blade edges at speeds that can produce as much as 1g of acceleration and deceleration force to maximize productivity. To meet the standards of aerospace manufacturers, the machine must also produce a high-quality, finished blade that requires minimal polishing and less bench work than a blade processed on a general-application machine.

“Changing direction quickly is important in machining as it is in auto racing.”

High g resistance

GF Machining Solutions’ Liechti Turbomill 1400 g airfoil machining platform meets these challenges. An advanced turbine blade mill designed for fast, cost-efficient production of medium-to-large blades for jet engines and power generation, the Liechti Turbomill 1400 g clamps a blade at each end and spins it between centers while a milling tool moves around the blade. That motion creates complex airfoil contours, allowing the machine to perform heavy-duty roughing and dynamic finishing for the airfoil, root form, and shroud.

The mill rapidly creates complex profiles on the leading and trailing edges of the blades that control airflow into the engine while maintaining the tight tolerances that maximize fuel efficiency. Some machine tools can start and stop simple straight-line machine movements at 2g. The 1400 g performs accurate three-dimensional machining at 1g.

Acceleration and deceleration at 1g generate significant force – strong enough to topple the machine over if it is not securely anchored to the shop floor. The Liechti Turbomill 1400 g uses its large size, weight, and rigidity to resist these forces. Machine ways are engineered with the strength to handle extreme momentum and inertia. The X-axis moves via linear drive, the Y- and Z-axis on ballscrews, and direct-drive motors power the rotary B- and A-axis, which is key to moving tools quickly around a blade’s leading and trailing edges.

The Liechti Turbomill 1400 g specializes in high-volume turbine blade production at original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or large Tier 1 suppliers that require maximum throughput of similar part families, machining blades up to 2x faster than general-purpose machines.

Global competition and increasingly strict product quality, performance, and manufacturing efficiency requirements have heavily influenced the design and production of turbine engines, forcing OEMs to meet customer requirements while manufacturing blades quickly and economically.

GF Machining Solutions is using a Liechti Turbomill 1400 g at its Aerospace Center of Competence (CoC) in Huntersville, North Carolina, where the company develops turn-key processes, conducts prototype machining, and provides CAM and programming training. There is also a secure area for military ITAR development.

Liechti Engineering

While a smartphone has just a few sensors providing data, a machining center can have several hundred. Add to that several thousand data points, derived from the dynamic behavior of control and regulation systems, and in total, there are countless possible sources for large-scale data analysis – with huge potential for more productive, more efficient, and faster production through connection to an Internet of things (IoT) platform.

The cloud-based version of Chiron’s RemoteLine digitalizes and transforms relevant IoT data into productive business results. Designed for industrial applications, it provides remote access in the event of servicing and connects products, systems, and machines.

With the RemoteLine cloud application, data produced by edge computing or sensors directly on the machining centers can be used for comprehensive analyses and digital services.

Each machine produces real parts and large volumes of data, meaning shop owners and managers must decide what data are worth collecting and analyzing. Machine manufacturers must answer several questions – how these data can be correlated, how advantages for individual customers can be developed based on data, and who should evaluate data.

“It’s not about collecting random information Big Data style and then deciding where to start,” says Peter Albrecht, platform connection coordinator at Chiron. “We know which data are of interest for our customers in a world of increasingly digitalized production. In the control system world at Chiron, a great deal of data describes the maintenance condition, part quantities, or the status of the NC axes. This is the invaluable information that we are preparing for our customers and making available in the cloud, on the IoT platform.”

RemoteLine in the cloud

There are many IoT platforms for developing digital services. For the next step in RemoteLine – cloud connection – Chiron will work with Siemens MindSphere.

“The open IoT operating system well-suited to the requirements of machine manufacturers and operators, is currently at the highest stage of development and offers the highest degree of flexibility for the future,” says Dr. Ulrich Heller, head of software development, Chiron Group.

Making use of data

The full exploitation of data occurs through data transfer between the customer and Chiron. Further processing and long-term evaluation of the data take place in the cloud, and a dashboard clearly displays collected information. This enables users to view machine conditions anytime, anywhere in the world, on a PC, laptop, or smartphone.

Key advantage of IoT applications is that companies can use the added value from data simply, quickly, and at reasonable costs. For instance, an app from Chiron for condition monitoring or tool management can be bought through the App Store, installed in the customer’s MindSphere via plug-and-play, and instantly ready to use. Users can start with the full version or download a limited trial version. Besides condition monitoring and tool management, there are other applications that promote the operation of machining centers in a cloud environment, including visualization of the machine location, overall equipment efficiency (OEE) considerations, and access to future innovations.

Data security

All companies must consider the security of their highly sensitive data. Transfer data into the Chiron area within the cloud platform takes place with the highest possible degree of security via SSL encryption. Customers can define the rights for data transfer and access. To guarantee security even further, Siemens continuously monitors the entire system and regularly updates security standards. In contrast to many other storage locations, the data stored in the cloud are extremely well protected against unauthorized access.

Mobile access

In addition to remote access in the event of servicing, Chiron also offers Manage My Machine – an app that can be used to display and manage machine data from all systems connected with MindSphere in the customer’s environment in the local or global machine park. An alarm monitoring system notifies the user of critical machine data, combines this data for more detailed analyses, and provides the basis for increased productivity, reliability, and availability of machining centers.

Chiron Group

Complex cutting tools can have many different geometrical features – hook, helix, clearance angles – within the same tools. That variety is why California Tool and Cutter Grind has remained outside the catalog market.

“We’re not trying to compete with catalog companies,” says California Tool Manufacturing Manager Jordan Armitage. “We are trying to diversify and operate as a high-end, high-performance house that can grind anything.”

An area of particular interest to the company is diamond- coated cutting tools, due to their longevity, repeatability, and predictability. Diamond-coated tools are essential to the aerospace industry because they are used to cut carbon fiber.

“There’s a specific grade of carbide required to make the diamond-coated tools, and we stock all that in-house to enable us to move quickly on our customer enquiries,” Armitage says. “We manufacture cutting tools to specification and send them out for diamond coating.”

Photo credit: Adobe Stock, California Tool
and Cutter Grind

Technologies enhance capabilities

California Tool uses a robotic loader equipped with ANCA software that manages tools with various diameters and collet sizes, reducing the need for individual steps in the manufacturing process. The technology enables California Tool to manufacture diamond-coated tools with diameters to the millionths of an inch and cutting geometries to ±1°.

“The ANCA machines have everything that a grinding house needs,” Armitage says. “RoboMate software, for example, allows you to incorporate different diameters and collet sizes. It makes it easy to set up jobs.”

California Tool also uses tool pre-setting and measurement systems from Zoller Inc. – specifically the Zoller Genius universal measuring machine.

“A lot of the cutting tools that are coming in nowadays are very complex,” Armitage says. “The Zoller Genius and the whole team at Zoller have helped us as a business to be more repetitive and to be more competitive in the marketplace.”

The technology provided by ANCA and Zoller gives California Tool the grinding capability to create solutions for various markets. Although the main market that California Tool targets is aerospace, the company also offers cutting tools for the automotive and medical industries.

ANCA CNC Machines

California Tool and Cutter Grind

Zoller Inc.