ERLANGER, Ky. — February 14, 2012 — MAG expands its presence in the Chinese aerospace industry with
the sale of the first composite processing system from a U.S. company. The new CHARGER™ low-rail
gantry contour tape layer, to be installed in Shanghai, will produce wings, horizontal stabilizers
and central wing boxes for COMAC’s C919 and C929 commercial passenger jets, slated to enter service
in 2016. According to Chip Storie, MAG Executive Vice President Aerospace, “This sale of the first
U.S.-made automated tape layer for the Chinese market builds on MAG’s successes in China’s growing
aerospace industry. Shanghai Aircraft already has dozens of MAG machine tools in production in its
manufacturing operation. This further solidifies MAG as the premier supplier of advanced
manufacturing equipment for commercial aerospace production in China.” Shanghai Aircraft is the
major production facility of the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). This tape layer
will be installed in the new COMAC Pudong composite facility.
“The Chinese aerospace industry is booming, and this sale is a breakthrough for U.S.
machinery exports in general and MAG in particular,” Storie added. “We are highly encouraged about
the potential for follow up sales, where our global reach as an integrated supplier of composites
and metal cutting solutions offers customers advantages in engineering and local service support
through our Shanghai tech center.”
MAG’s CHARGER tape layer deposits composite tape at industry-leading speeds, while achieving
aerospace grade placement accuracies on complex contours. CHARGER Series machines lay 75, 150 or
300 mm (3, 6 or 12 in) carbon/epoxy tape with any orientation and number of plies, over tool
surfaces with contours, flats and changing geometries, producing consistent quality, part shape,
thickness and strength. MAG-designed controls and software make CHARGER’s multi-axis movements easy
to program and control. The powerful ACES® programming software translates CAD or CATIA tooling and
laminate data into multi-axis machine commands. MAG has sold more than 90 seats of this proprietary
software throughout the world.
The low-rail gantry platform is designed with high structural stiffness for reliability and
fast, accurate lay-up. The next-generation re-engineered contour tape head contributes to higher
throughput with faster, simpler side loading of tape rolls up to 300 mm (12 in) wide and 650 mm
(25.6 in) diameter. The new head also features integrated ultrasonic laminate cutting, cutter
depth-setting assistance and dockable inkjet marking for maximum system flexibility and
performance.
MAG composite processing systems are the most widely used equipment throughout the worldwide
aerospace industry, with more than 130 systems sold. In addition to the Shanghai Aircraft programs,
MAG taper layers and fiber placement systems are used to produce a wide range of components for
numerous aircraft programs, including the Airbus A350-XWB and Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Posted on March 20, 2012
Source: MAG