Additive Manufacturing: A Natural Progression for Kanfit — Manufacturer of Aerospace-Grade Components
“From the start we understood that to stand out from pack we needed to anticipate market trends and customer demands,” explains Shachar Fine, Kanfit’s EVP of Business Development, Marketing & Sales. “We’ve been able to do that by becoming early adopters of the industry’s ever-changing manufacturing technologies. We offer higher added value at the level of part complexity and quality.”
In 2017, Kanfit added 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, of Ti64 titanium alloy powder to its portfolio of technology processes. “With our expertise in integrating composites and metals, together with our reputation for developing and implementing new manufacturing technologies for the aerospace industry, we saw the introduction of additive manufacturing as a natural progression of our technologies offered”, says Samuel Rosenbaum, General Manager of the Kanfit 3D Division.
“We made a decision to work with titanium because of its potential in the three fields in which we concentrate – aerospace, medical and dental” Rosenbaum added.
One of the company’s first AM projects was the production of a complex assembly for a long-time customer in the space and defense industry. Kanfit had previously manufactured the component by machining, but together with the customer, determined that by moving to additive manufacturing, the component could be more complex, which would simplify assembly. “With traditional machining, the part took longer to manufacture, and was much more expensive to produce. Additive manufacturing enables us to produce a product with a higher level of complexity in a shorter period of time,” says Rosenbaum.
Kanfit is in the process of receiving customer certification and approval for Additive Manufacturing. “Unfortunately, there are still no industry quality system standards for 3D printing,” explains Mr. Fine. “However, it is only a matter of time until international standards are in place. Kanfit will use the same systematic procedures and high level of professionalism to obtain these certifications that it has used to receive AS/EN9100 certification, as well as Nadcap certification for composites, heat treatment and chemical processing.”
Kanfit Ltd., a leading manufacturer of primary and detailed parts, assemblies and subassemblies that are fit-to-fly, is a pioneer in its field in Israel. Established in 1986, the company began operations as a tooling workshop for the aerospace industry. Gradually the company expanded its activities to the production of structural parts made from both composites and sheet and block metals and a combination of both. Today, Kanfit is a major supplier to Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), and the largest supplier of metal and composite structural parts for G280 business jets.
For more information, stop by our booth #556 to meet our experts and to find out more about Kanfit’s products and technology processes.