Sumitomo Electric looks to expand cutting tool business with focus on aerospace industry
January 31, 2020
With materials used in airframes being hard to machine, Sumitomo Electric Industries has reported plans to use its Powder Metallurgy technology and ultra-high pressure technology to develop the next-generation cutting tools required in the aircraft industry. The statement came as the company announced it recently joined its third aerospace-related consortium.
In December last year, the company’s US-based subsidiary, Sumitomo Electric Carbide, Inc., headquartered in Illinois, USA, joined the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research and Development (OMIC R&D), an industry-academia-government cooperative consortium for aircraft R&D.
OMIC R&D was established in 2017 under the initiative of the Boeing Company, which includes six private enterprises in Oregon, USA, three universities in Oregon and the Oregon state government. Its objective is to promote collaboration among industries, academia and government, strengthening competitiveness in metalworking and developing those who will play key roles in the field of next-generation manufacturing.
Sumitomo previously joined the UK-based Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) in 2017 and Germany’s International Center for Turbomachinery Manufacturing (ICTM) in 2018.
In addition to joining the consortia, Sumitomo explains that it will implement a variety of strategies to drive full-scale expansion of its cutting tool business in the aircraft industry, such as technical support from its European Design and Engineering Centre and America Tool Engineering Center, quick response to the demands for non-standard special-purpose products through its local production bases, and development of products in Japan.
