Lovitt Technologies Australia has won a $1.5 million Australian government grant to help secure more work on the global F-35 Program.
Lovitt Technologies Australia is the first recipient of Australian government’s Joint Strike Fighter Industry Support Program - Production and Modernisation Grant, which provides local companies funding support to develop new or improved capabilities to secure work from the lucrative F-35 Program.
The grant will go towards funding the purchase of a Mazak Integrex e-1850V/12 Multi-Tasking machine in addition to manufacturing software upgrades and staff training.
The Mazak Integrex e-1850V/12 has a pallet size of up to 1850 mm diameter, a powerful, high accuracy main table that can turn large diameter work pieces and rapid traverse rate up to 40 m/min. It can handle parts up to 2,350mm in diameter and 1,800mm long, weighing up to 7,000kg.
The Mazak Integrex e-1850V/12 multi-tasking machine combines full 5-axis machining, vertical turning operations and pallet-changing capabilities to productively process large and highly complex parts from a variety of workpiece materials.
Because the machine is able to perform milling, turning, boring and drilling operations in single setups, Lovitt can reduce the inaccuracies that occur when moving heavy parts across multiple workstations, eliminate work-in-process inventory and boost overall throughput.
The machine comes with a two-pallet changer that provides unattended operations and off-cycle part setup. This simple, efficient form of automation will allow Lovitt operators to load, unload and inspect parts on one pallet while the machine works on the other undisturbed.
Lovitt Technologies Australia is a leading manufacturer of complex, precision engineered, structural components and assemblies for commercial, business and military aerospace platforms.
Founded in 1954, Lovitt originally began manufacturing for the Australian automotive sector, and has evolved to specialise in manufacturing for the aerospace industry.
Still a locally-owned family business to this day, the company operates its machining and assembly works on a company-owned site in Greensborough, Victoria, where it employs a team of more than 110 full-time staff.
In the commercial aviation sector, Lovitt is a key supplier to Boeing, manufacturing parts of the trailing edge for the most technically advanced commercial aircraft in the world – the Boeing 787 ‘Dreamliner’. It also produces components for the 737 airliners. In addition it supplies some components for smaller commercial aircraft such as the Gulfstream business jet.
In the defence segment, the company supplies parts of the floor structure, bulkheads and the engine mounts for the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter (JSF), as well as parts for the V-22 Osprey V/STOL military transport aircraft, P-8 Poseidon and the CH-47 Chinook helicopter.
Lovitt purchased their first Mazak in 2013, and the machine is still going strong today, frequently achieving more than 5,000 hours of titanium machining per year.
Lovitt continue to choose Mazak not just for their best in class machining solutions, but also because of the high quality service and support from John Hart which ensures that Lovitt reliably achieves in excess of 140 hours a week of actual machining.