VISTAGY and CGTech Extend Partnership to Provide Integrated Solution for Automated Drilling and Fastening of Airframe Assemblies

VISTAGY, Inc., a leading provider of industry-specific engineering software and services, and CGTech, a recognized leader in Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software for numerical control (CNC/NC) simulation, verification, optimization and analysis software technology for manufacturing, today announced that they have expanded their partnership to enable automated assembly of airframe structures by integrating VISTAGY’s SyncroFIT® software for designing and manufacturing complex assemblies and large aerostructures and CGTech’s VERICUT Drilling & Fastening (VDAF) solution.

Previously, the companies partnered to integrate VISTAGY’s FiberSIM® composites engineering software and CGTech’s VERICUT Composite Programming and Simulation Suite (VCP), which together enable rapid design and manufacturing iterations to optimize the development of composite structures produced by automated fiber placement (AFP) machines. The new complementary offerings from CGTech and VISTAGY support airframe assembly processes, enabling engineers to have common interfaces and solutions for managing composite structures and handling airframe assembly.

SyncroFIT is the only production-proven, CAD-integrated, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution for managing the complexities of airframe assemblies, with an emphasis on fastened structures. VDAF is a software application for simulating and programming auto-drilling and fastening machines that is independent of both the machine and CAD system. Together they address the broad needs of aerospace manufacturers by providing a single source solution that encompasses everything from upstream engineering definitions to downstream NC programming.

Given the fragility of composites, there needs to be precise control of speeds and feeds in the drilling process to avoid the possibility of de-lamination, splintering, etc., as well as to ensure high throughput.  Automated manufacturing requires an enormous amount of detail. The integrated solution provides that detail with SyncroFIT defining the location of holes and fasteners and seamlessly transferring all the associated data to VDAF to be used in the automated manufacturing process.