A Windsor tool company is preparing to make one of its largest deliveries in recent years.

Two huge broaching machines that took Colonial Tool Group Inc. 14 months of design and engineering work to make are ready to go to Pratt & Whitney, a world leader in the manufacture of aircraft engines.

It's one of the largest orders the company has filled in recent years and builds upon a relationship with the aircraft supplier that began with the purchase of a smaller machine in 2005, said Brett Froates, one of four partners who purchased Colonial 15 years ago.

"They were evidently happy with the product and the services we supplied before and approached us about providing two more machines," said Froates, who is president of Colonial's broach division. "It took about nine months to manufacture the two machines and we were able to use services and parts supplied by a number of Windsor-area shops so it was a good situation for companies other than ourselves."

Broaching machines, in this case a pair of 270-inch four-level, five-axis turbine disc machines, provide one of the fastest and most economical means of metal removal and are used in the aircraft industry for putting a profile on parts of an engine.

Using rotary broaches allows manufacturers to machine complex shapes on standard lathes without the need for a secondary process which cuts down on machining times and saves money.

While Colonial still performs about 70 per cent of its work in the automotive sector, they've managed to make inroads into the aircraft sector through its collaboration with Pratt and Whitney.

"We've faced our challenges like everyone else but we've managed to add 30 per cent to our staff over the past 18 months and now we're at about 100 employees across our three locations," said Froates.

In addition to its headquarters on Walker Road, Colonial also operates Colonial (US) in Taylor, Mich. and Advanced Cutting Tool Systems on Manning Road.

Froates and partners Tom Alterman, Paul Thrasher and Diana Lausch bought Colonial in 1993 and all but Lausch, who is now retired, remain active with the company.

"I suppose we've had a certain degree of good fortune along the way but the real secret to our success, if you can call it that, is the fact that we offer different product lines," said Froates.

In addition to broaching machines, the company makes precision spindles and spline rolling racks. One of the first tool shops to use CNC machines in the manufacture of broach tools, Colonial has built a reputation throughout the industry for its precision tools.

Froates said it wasn't that difficult to become part of Pratt and Whitney's supply chain but admits "there were hoops to jump through before we became controlled goods certified which allows us to participate in U.S. International Traffic in Arms Regulations agreements."

These ITAR certifications allow suppliers to provide parts and enter into contracts with companies which supply parts and products to defence departments.

Froates said the Pratt and Whitney project was spearheaded by chief engineer Tom Tourangeau, manufacturing supervisor Dave Renshaw and senior design engineer Mitch Petrescu.

"We did the modelling for the machinery on software in our engineering department which allowed us to demonstrate its applications and effectiveness before the manufacturing process even began," said Froates. "It also allowed us to run tests and assure our customer of its accuracy. There are huge gains to be achieved in engine efficiency the more accurate the tools are once they're finished."

The machines will be broken down into three parts over the next couple of weeks before they're shipped to Pratt and Whitney in six transport trucks.

Colonial's ability to complete two contracts for Pratt and Whitney is already drawing interest from other manufacturers in Europe and India.

Froates said "successfully completing complex jobs is not only good for our customers but it's also good for our future business."


http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/business/story.htm