As seen in A2Z Manufacturing Rocky Mountain, March/April 2017
Bemsco, Inc. is pleased to be celebrating their 50th year anniversary. The Bemsco team thanks their customers for half a century of manufacturing service opportunities. Bemsco, a premier manufacturer of hydraulic, electro-mechanical assemblies and complex machined components for the aerospace industry, opened for business in 1967. Company founder, Ted Block, has worked diligently for decades developing the company with son, Jeff Block. Today, they are integral to the company’s weekly operations in coordination with General Manager, Clint Muhlestein and the management team.
Bemsco has built many legacy products for the Department of Defense providing support to the U.S. military as well as private sector companies. In some cases, Bemsco’s knowledge and experience with given DOD parts has earned them the distinction of source approved manufacturer. They support a number of platforms, including the UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter, A-10 Thunderbolt, B-1 Bomber, B-52 Stratofortress, C-130 Hercules, C-135 Stratolifter, C-5 Galaxy, E-3A Sentry, F-15 Eagle, F-35 Lightning, F-16 Fighting Falcon, CH-47 Chinook Helicopter, CH-53 Super Stallion, M-39 Cannon and many other commercial and military aircraft.
Muhlestein says, “Bemsco’s success is due in a very large part to our employees. Our management team is second to none and has an average of more than 32 years in the industry and they have incredible expertise in aerospace manufacturing and processing.”
Bemsco excels at difficult to machine parts that often require high-temperature, heat-treated exotic metals including Inconel, Hastelloy, Stainless Steel, and Titanium to name a few. They are also working with General Atomics, test machining Ferrium S53, which is a corrosion resistant, ultra high-strength steel for structural aerospace and other applications where 300M (BS S155) and 4340 are typically used. Muhlestein says that the S53 steel provides much greater resistance to general corrosion and to stress corrosion cracking.
Bemsco is AS9100/ISO 9001 certified offering superior machining (milling and turning) capabilities. With an inventory of 23 machines in-house (14 CNC machines), V.P., Jeff Block says that Bemsco is primarily a Mazak shop. “We own 12 Mazak machines, having used them for decades. Our Quality Assurance department is furnished with two Zeiss Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM), and three Trimos Vertical Micro-Heights.” Bemsco’s superior quality has earned them ‘Performance Excellence Awards’ from Boeing, Sikorsky, and Lockheed.
Bemsco’s latest machine tool purchase introduced long-bed five axis machining. Block says the new Mazak VTC- 800/30-SR was purchased for a specific job. They had been machining a part for a customer prior to their purchase of the five axis Mazak, but it was cumbersome, requiring nine operations. Block says their five axis Mazak VTC-800/30-SR reduced machining to four operations. “Extensive savings in set-up and production time were achieved through our new technology”, he adds.
After reviewing other five axis machine brands, Bemsco purchased the Mazak VTC- 800/30-SR. Bemsco also reviewed four Mazak alternatives. They chose this machine for a number of reasons:
- It has a large work zone (118” x 31” x 28”), and it offers a fixed table. The Mazak VTC enables Bemsco to machine extremely heavy and long work pieces, ideal for Bemsco because they are manufacturing parts 10’ or longer in length. Muhlestein says they would need a machining area twice as long if they didn’t have the fixed table and vertical traveling column that the Mazak VTC offers. The Mazak VTC-800/SR additionally offers a table partition, and this allows the long machine table to be transformed into two separate work areas.
- The footprint of the VTC-800 is ideal for Bemsco, because of their very full machine shop environment, utilizing nearly all of their 22,000 square feet dedicated to machining (the company operates in a 36,000 square foot building in the heart of Salt Lake City). Muhlestein says with competitive five axis machines, they would’ve needed 35-40% more space for the new machine.
Their machines must be extremely reliable, always up and running, in order for Bemsco to continue to earn the ‘A Report Cards’ that they get from their suppliers for their quality and on-time delivery. Muhlestein says, “Bemsco’s philosophy is to buy superior, high end machine tools.” He adds, “Service is key to us, and over the years we have been very pleased with both Smith Machinery, our local Mazak dealer, and with Mazak’s service capabilities.” He notes that with Mazak, Bemsco gets two tiers of service. Smith Machinery has its own dedicated service team through its Smith-Neotech Service Group, and Mazak has a staff of more than 300 service people located throughout the United States, with two in the state of Utah. “The technical expertise through Mazak and Smith Machinery is the best I have ever seen.”
To learn more about how Smith Machinery Company can help you with your machining needs, call (801) 263-6403 or visit smithmachinetools.com
Bemsco offers its customers half of a century of aerospace manufacturing excellence, particularly in the Aerospace and Defense industries. To learn more, contact them at (801) 487-7455 or visit bemsco.com