No component of American business has felt a more devastating impact from the 2001 recession and the events of September 11 than the aerospace industry. Despite declining revenues and increased downtime among many industry players, Excel Manufacturing's business has increased 30 percent.

Excel is a leading supplier of machined metal structural parts based in Wichita, Kansas. Installing and implementing a new Makino Machining Complex (MMC) automated palletized machining system marked the company's commitment to increase efficiencies to meet customers' increasing demands.

"We're looking at different directions of growth," says Marwan Hammouri, vice president and general manager of Excel. "We have already migrated more than 80 setups to the new Makino (MMC) with the Model B2 software cell controller. The programming characteristics maximize production output while effectively monitoring multi-machine production requirements. The PC-based system is designed to handle a wide variety of parts and provide for flexible production management. This means that we have eliminated setup time from 80 operations for as long as we produce the product. As we complete transition of product to the cell, we expect to run over 200 different setups."

While the company limits its raw materials to aluminum and some titanium, it produces products for companies in both the private and commercial aerospace industries. Key customers include Cessna, Raytheon, Lear Jet, and nine divisions of Boeing. Additionally, Sikorsky Aircraft is one of Excel's main high-speed machining customers.

Regardless of the industry, Excel has focused its efforts on always being able to meet its customers' demands. The Makino system gave them the accuracy, productivity and flexibility needed to meet their customer requirements. Since implementing the new Makino system, Hammouri says, Excel's business has increased significantly.

Hammouri says Excel has developed a partnership with Makino that will enable Excel to deliver increased productivity, new products, and overall added value to its customers at a time when attaining a competitive edge will be crucial to achieving success.

More importantly, Hammouri says, Excel's customers see the value in the relationship Excel and Makino have forged. "Every customer that has seen the Makino system was impressed. They like to see their suppliers investing in quality equipment that produces the quality parts they demand." Excel is now seeing the industry begin to bounce back in alignment with their growth plans. They are busier than ever as they prepare for the economic resurgence expected in 2002.

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