Aerospace innovation for maximum efficiency

Starrag develops and produces production solutions for the aviation and aerospace industry. In a pilot project aimed at reducing measuring times for turbine blades, the Swiss company became the first in the world to use the coordinate measuring machine ZEISS PRISMO fortis.

The aerospace industry faces a significant challenge: achieving high-precision measurements of aviation and aerospace parts while increasing speed. ZEISS has addressed this challenge by introducing ZEISS PRISMO fortis coordinate measuring system. Available for ZEISS PRISMO 7/12/7 fortis and 12/18/10 fortis aero, ZEISS CMM Acceleration Mode for Aerospace Applications comprises a pair of options known as ZEISS VAST Rotary Table (ZVR) and ZEISS VAST Rotary Table Axis (ZVRA). It also features a dedicated application support package if required.

Roland Ziltener discusses the machining of engine blades, blisks and casings.

Fascination with a new solution

Roland Ziltener, who was the head of quality management at Starrag at the time, still remembers the beginning of the pilot project. “We saw the device in Oberkochen and were immediately excited.” To check whether this new development could maintain the required precision while reducing measuring time, all turbine blades produced by Starrag were measured with ZEISS PRISMO fortis over an 18-month test period. Evaluating the system’s accuracy involved comparing the measurement results with reference values.

Young man operating the ZEISS PRISMO 7/12/7 fortis

Impressive turbine blade measurement efficiency

Quality control of turbine blades and blisks typically accounts for 20% of total production costs and 25% of total production time. This project demonstrated that productivity can be increased by measuring the turbine blades with the new system. The standard measurement time at Starrag, which was previously 4 minutes and 30 seconds, has been reduced to just 70 seconds. This time saved “gives us greater flexibility in selecting the parameters and workpieces to be measured, and also helps us optimize our production process,” emphasizes Ziltener.

Discover quality solutions for turbine blades

Designing a Component Using ZEISS CALYPSO

Software solutions: Simple and easy to understand

Quality is “made, not just measured,” Ziltener likes to say. For this reason, Starrag goes beyond a simple good/bad evaluation of parts, focusing instead on qualitatively high-value feedback to a machine's performance. ZEISS CALYPSO and ZEISS INSPECT inspection software, specifically designed for analyzing rotor blades, guide vanes, blisks, and NGVs in gas turbines, enable Starrag to interpret the measured data collected quickly.

The results are presented in a clear and easy-to-understand manner “so that even non-metrologists immediately understand possible problems,” explains Ziltener. This clarity simplifies communication with suppliers and facilitates the development of standardized solutions. The Aerospace & Turbine Competence Center machine operators can also quickly identify whether their processes are running smoothly and independently take corrective action to address any possible deviations. Ziltener is convinced that “in an industry that demands absolute precision in production and quality control, Starrag has set new standards in quality control with this pilot project.”

"Speed and accuracy were always contradictory for us before we installed the new generation of ZEISS PRISMO fortis."

Roland Ziltener
Plant Director, Starrag AG

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