Our Approach to Successful Tooling

Excellent tooling comes from excellent people.   At ADC, we have the best senior tool designers and manufacturing engineers in the field.   Their experience working together has provided many outstanding tooling solutions for some of the most important and challenging tooling projects in past 16 years.

Tooling Categories Gallery

  • Production Assembly LInes

    CRJ 900 AFT Fuselage Assembly Tooling

  • LIfting and Installation Tools

    Boeing 787 Universal Lifting Tool

    Boeing 787Main Landing Gear Installation Tool

  • Assembly and Transportation Fixtures

    F-35 Center Fuselage Assembly and Transportation Fixuture

  • Workstations and lifts

    Delta IV Work Stand

    Work Stand

    RS-68 Nozzle Installation Tool

    RS-68 Nozzle Installation Tool

  • Aircraft Laser Alignment Fixtures

    Blackhawk Hard Locator

    Laser Alignment Fixture

    Apache Hard Locator Laser Alignment Fixture

    Blackhawk Soft Locator Laser Alignment Fixture

  • Drill, Mill and Holding Tools

    F-22 Vacuum Mill Fixture

    RS-68 Valve Alignment Tool

    Tombstone  Mill Fixture

  • Bond Jigs and Forming Tools

    Beechcraft Premier I Elevator Bond Tool

    Beechcraft Premier I Vertical Assembly Skin Bond Tool

    Beechcraft Premier I Horizontal Stabilizer Bond Tool

    Beechcraft Premier I Horizontal Skin Detail Bond Tool

     

  • Handling tools and slings

    RS-68 Shipping Container

    RS-68 Hydraulic Rotation System

  • Master tools

    Orion Stage Interface Master

  • Mass simulators

    RS-68 Rocket Engine Mass SImulator

  • Special tooling

    Test Fixture

    Mill Fixture

    Valve Test Fixture

    Holding Fixture

  • Maintenance, Repair Tool Refurbishment

    Blackhawk Pylon Refurbishment Tool

    Blackhawk Tail Cone Refurbishment Tool

    Blackhawk Fuselage Jacking System

    Blackhawk Firewall Installation Tool

  • Assembly JIgs

    Eclipse 500 Lower Fuselage AJ

    Beechcraft Premier I Vertical Stabilizer Final AJ

    CFM 56 Engine Cowling AJ

    Beechcraft Premier I Horizontal Stabilizer AJ

  • Cradles and Check Fixtures

    Delta IV Skin  Panel Check Fixture

    Delta IV Skin Panel Check Fixture

  • Transport dollies and containers

    R-68 Turbo Pump AJ

    R-68 Engine Build Pallet

    R-68 MCC Transport

    R-68 Nozzle Transport

    R-68 Gas Generator Dolly

    R-68 Exhaust Duct AJ

Tool Design Resources

>  Senior Engineering staff

>  Best designers in industry

>  NC programmers

>  Licensed stress analysts

>  Modelers and checkers

 

Systems Supported

>  CATIA V5

​>  Siemens NX>  Pro-Engineer>  AutoCAD>  Mechanical Desktop

Manufacturing Tool Development

Tool design is a pragmatic art learned by experiences manufacturing engineers over many years of application experience. The goals of the tool designer are somewhat different than those of say an engineer that designs flight hardware. The flight hardware engineer is concerned with achieving the minimum weight of the product, flight performance, field service, and the cost of producing each unit.

 

The experienced tool designer on the other hand is concerned with developing a stout and robust fixture, with easy access for the workers using it, worker safety, convenient work conditions, and the high tolerances that the fixture can control. The ultimate test of a good tool is determined by the cost and quality of assemblies or parts it produces.

 

 

 

Maintenance Tooling

Maintenance tools defer from manufacturing tools. Manufacturing tools receive newly made pristine components with the high degree of tolerance and repeatability when they enter the assembly fixture. The designer of manufacturing tools can depend on these factors when designing the fixture that will assemble the components together.

 

The maintenance tool designer can not depend on the quality of the incoming components to the repair fixture. The product to be repaired is many times already assembled, but in a damaged (distorted) condition and consideration must be made by the designer just to get the product to be repaired into the fixture. There are many proven methods for overcoming these conditions. The best way for the maintenance and repair tool designer to accomplish his tasks is to be familiar with the method have worked in the past, as well as his own creative talents, experience and imagination.