“I am 100% certain there is no machine tool out there that can compete with the performance of an ECOSPEED”, says Alfred Lilla, Head of Sales of the Aerostructure market segment at Starrag Group. A few years ago at his first ECOSPEED seminar in China, Lilla carried out an experiment that shocked the representatives of all the renowned aviation companies. An ECOSPEED machining centre milled an Airbus frame to the highest level of precision in about 95 minutes. The Chinese hosts would normally do this in around nine hours.

Since then, the Scharmann ECOSPEED series has dominated the Asian aviation industry with its high-performance machines: Regular customers include Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd. (KAI) from Sacheon City (South Korea). Since 2009, Korea’s sole aircraft manufacturer has placed 12 orders for ECOSPEED machining centres, designed for high-speed machining of large aluminium structural components. KAI has recently extended its contract to include a further two ECOSPEED F models, intended to complete one of the world’s largest manufacturing lines in 2016; the line will eventually encompass nine machines, three fitting stations, two transport carts and a total of 60 pallets. Lilla: “This regular customer also has three ECOSPEED machining centres to produce 20-metre long wing panels”.