Friction Welding Job Shop Invests in New Equipment

One of America?s largest full-service friction welding job shops has invested in a new Thompson Friction Welding (West Midlands, UK) machine in order to cope with growing demand from customers in the automotive industry. Wisconsin-based American Friction Welding (Brookfield, WI) added the British-made, fully-automated friction welding system to its Brookfield facility after securing a 6-year contract to produce a range of thermocouple components.

Recent signs of recovery in the auto industry represented an important opportunity for growth and AFW was keen to demonstrate its commitment to customers in this sector with a significant investment program, explained AFW president John Fischer. ?We?re ramping up our operation to manage the increase in business over the next two years and we see no problem in investing in a large piece of capital equipment, such as the new machine, in order to improve the success of our customers and aid our future growth,? he said.

The Thompson Model 15, which is being used to join three parts in a two-stage operation, was chosen not only for its high quality welding performance, but also its space-saving capabilities. The manufacturer specially integrated a series of automated component loading/unloading features so that AFW could undertake the friction welding process on a single system instead of considering other options that involved two machines.

The new model is the fourth Thompson machine purchased by AFW for its friction welding job shop, marking a 15-year relationship with the UK-based manufacturer. AFW also uses a trio of larger Thompson machines for joining components typically used in the truck, construction, food and chemical processing sectors. ?These machines are built extremely well and last many years in a very high production environment. They are easy to operate, with excellent control system monitors and records every aspect of the weld process,? added Fischer.

AFW has already upgraded a competitor machine with the new control system and plans to do the same on another piece of equipment in the near future. Fischer also praised the after-sales support service for its quick and reliable response to technical queries. ?Some U.S. machine manufacturers are reluctant to deal with requests over the phone and prefer to send out an engineer several days later which is often too late for our requirements. However, I know I can pick up the phone and get an answer straight away,? he noted.

Thompson, whose U.S. office is based in Clinton Township, MI, produces a range of rotary friction welding machines for customers in the aerospace, automotive, construction machine, oil and gas exploration sectors. It has been awarded Britain?s most coveted commercial prize, a Queen?s Award for Enterprise, for its outstanding export sales achievements. Among its latest products is the E100, the world?s largest linear friction welding machine which can be used to join a wide variety of parts used in the aerospace, medical and power generation industries.