Manufacturing – Alconcomponent

Manufacturing the Alcon way

Our capabilities

Key to Alcon’s ability to produce the finest quality components, be it a brake kit, clutch pack or pedal box, is that we are able to curate the entire process in house from initial concept to full production. We use the latest five axis CNC machines to craft components from forgings and solid billets of aluminium. All our calipers are quality controlled, to the most exacting standards, and their performance tested and measured by our on site dynamometers.

Our latest flexible manufacturing cell comprises three new Doosan 15” chuck V8300 vertical turning lathes with Fanuc controls.

The V8300 lathes are positioned in close proximity to each other enabling rapid part transfer between them, and are being used to machine a range of different sized brake discs. The discs are made from cast iron (castings) and are machined to tight tolerances and high surface finishes in low volumes. Alcon’s current capacity exceeds 1,000 discs per week.

Machining

Our components go through three levels of machining, often reducing a 25kg billet of aluminium to a 1.5kg component. The first stage creates an approximate outline of the part required and sheds most of the unwanted metal, all of which is collected and recycled for use by other industries. Then the rough component is machined into a part that looks like the finest product before being honed again and any hole required bored into its surfaces.

Assembly

Our assembly lines are PLC controlled with Poka Yoke to ensure that there is a no fault forward pass through to our OEM customers. During each stage of the line the components are locked into a rig for assembly. The work is then checked by computer before the product is allowed to be released along the line, removing the risk of human error.

Quality Control

We check each component is visibly correct before it is then compared to a mathematically perfect specification, making up to 150 measurements per component, down to tolerances as small as three microns. Any part that is found to be outside these requirement that cannot be easily corrected is simply discarded and the whole process starts again.

Testing

Our dynamometers subject our components to stresses and strains that far exceed any they are likely to encounter in the duration of their working life. We can put parts through a lifetime of use in just a few days of the most intensive rig testing. We also have an NVH dyno, one of just two of its kind in the UK, which measures and maps all issues of noise, vibration and harshness related to brake performance. In an age where near-silent electric cars will soon represent the mainstream, being able to guarantee maximum refinement from braking systems is already becoming of paramount importance.

Precision is paramount

Finer tolerances don’t just result in better performance, but increased durability and reliability too. Which is why we work to tolerances over ten times smaller than the human eye can see.