Tracker and probing expertise for aerospace experts

S&K Aerospace is an aerostructure specialist for wing and fuselage parts and the assembly of commercial aircraft. Established in 2005, the Korean-based business is committed to a programme of continuous research, development and efficiency improvement in order to ensure their customers continue to receive world-leading support. Among the company’s flagship products are the A319/A320 wing top panel and the A380 wing bottom panel and fuselage section skins.

A certified collective production system enables this all-in-one, one-stop solution provider to carry out all the required work within its own walls, including material handling, machining, forming, surface enhancement, chemical processing and NDT, assembly, final mating and delivery.

The ideas of 'Best Quality for Product Characteristics’, ‘Global Competitiveness with Creative Innovation’ and ‘Continuous Improvement and Customer Satisfaction’, are management priorities at S&K. A focus on strategic partnerships with suppliers offers S&K the best way to specialise and concentrate on their expertise while also allowing them to foster greater synergies.

“We share not only the same values but also the same quality-driven mindset and high level of aerospace expertise with Hexagon,” says Jeong Man Cho, S&K Deputy Senior Manager and Chief of the Quality Control team. As a key partner of Airbus, the company adheres to the strong contract regulations signed with Korean Aerospace and has to guarantee a continuous level of quality through the processing, post-processing and assembly of parts.

Hexagon’s relevant expertise in the aerospace industry is an important foundation for our collaboration. They understand our challenges and have the best solutions.“Our biggest challenge is not the measurements themselves but the process, which should be fast, reliable, and easy to do for very large parts,” said Mr. Man Cho. “S&K used to outsource the metrology part of the business. But it was neither stable nor sustainable and took way too much time. This did not fit our all-in-one mentality.” While looking for a solution – and a supplier – large traditional CMMs were initially considered, but the limits imposed by their size limitation was a real challenge. “Our parts can be up to 16 metres long and points to be measured are spaced between three and five metres apart”.

Laser tracker technology, for decades well implemented and proven in the aerospace industry, was the best way to fulfill S&K’s complex measurement tasks. “We chose Hexagon from all the other options in the market for many reasons,” continues Mr Man Cho. “Their Leica T-Probe solution was unique and offered much more than simple reflector measurements. Our complex parts are made of hidden or hard-to-reach points that need to be checked.

“The Leica Absolute Tracker AT960 is the best on the market in terms of implementation, reliability and technology. Together with SpatialAnalyzer (SA) software, it is the best answer for our daily high-accuracy inspection tasks. And Hexagon’s relevant expertise in the aerospace industry is an important basis for our collaboration. They understand our challenges and have the best solutions. And the Hexagon team in Korea offered us expertise, professionalism, fantastic support and state-of-the-art training – exactly how we want our partner suppliers to be!”