Innovative Ideas Helped Us Save Time and Money

As part of our process for manufacturing aircraft wings’ we have to precisely mark 75mm intervals on an aluminium part, which can vary in length from 2m to 22m, to prepare it to be shaped accurately. When we started to measure these intervals it was done by hand, which was incredibly time consuming and so we were constantly looking for more efficient alternatives.

We did come up with one solution using a printed self-adhesive tape, which didn’t stretch therefore enabled us to accurately mark every 75mm.  This however continued to be a time consuming solution and quite expensive.

It was during our search for an alternative solution that we met up with Datamark UK who were surprisingly confident that they could provide a solution to this problem. They trialed with us an Ink-Jet Print solution using a specialist ink, which enabled a speedy application, by hand-held printers, clearly marking every 75mm on the aluminium parts. These products however are not developed for printing lengthy items varying from 2 to 22m so Datamark got in touch with the ink-jet printer manufacturers and were able to convince them to adapt their software so as to accommodate printing the required measurements up to lengths of 22m.

We were enthused that their solution to a problem we had had for a number of years seemed so simple, but sure enough when the products arrived they worked exactly as we’d requested and we’ve never looked back. Whilst it seemed an easy fix, without Datamark’s intricate knowledge of the industry and how current products could be adapted to suit our needs we would still be marking using printed self-adhesive tape. The Ink-Jet coding solution is now saving us a significant sum over the next ten years.

Aircraft Manufacturer