KS Composites on FastTrack with hyperMILL

Embued in the motorsport industry from when Kelvin Smith opened the doors for business in 1985, KS Composites is a manufacturer with a pedigree of working with numerous F1, GT, Le Mans and BTCC teams. Throughout its history, Melton Mowbray-based KS Composites has worked at the very pinnacle of motorsport – and that is why the company has invested in CAD/CAM software from OPEN MIND Technologies.

Having formed many close relationships with some of the leading lights in design and consultancy through prototype and development projects, KS Composites offers design services, FEA, and CFD. This is complemented by a 48,000sq/ft manufacturing site that supports the design and consultancy services with everything from kit cutting, fitting and assembly to wet lay composites, autoclaves and ovens, a composite shop, machine shop and much more. Whether it’s the development of new lightweight wind turbines, the production of super-efficient alternative energy vehicles or the unique demands of the aviation and military industries, KS Composites approach all projects with the same enthusiasm and professionalism.

Dan Johnston, Business Development Manager at KS Composites: “A turnkey composite solution provider that offers a range of services, from engineering to 3D printing and CNC machining, as well as composite manufacturing. Each customer has an individual requirement that we really have to respond – everyone has nuances within their projects and programmes, and we need to be able to leverage every service we have to provide for our clients. Customers will initially come to us with a fully developed idea or just the genesis of an idea. What that journey looks like will depend on each client, but we can fundamentally take an idea, and our engineering division will deliver the solution. If someone has a blueprint for a project, we are agile and responsive enough to deliver on time.”

Discussing the relationship with OPEN MIND Technologies, Justin Tallboys-Cotton from OPEN MIND adds: “KS Composites came to us because of their needs, which are not only metallic but also composite machining. This encompasses everything from 3-axis vertical machines to complex 5-axis gantry-style machines. One thing that KS Composites liked about hyperMILL is that the licenses are very modular, so whilst they use our 5-axis licences that we are famed for worldwide, they don’t need all of it. So, KS Composites just chose the two or three modules that they needed in order to do their work. They know they can expand if needed, but they don’t need to invest in everything up front.”

Looking at a replica race car the company has manufactured, Dan Johnston adds: “On the vehicle itself, there is a multitude of things. We have carbon composite body panels and also machined, GRP and 3D printed elements. We are hitting on all our core services with this vehicle. One of the first things to come into our new building was CNC machines. At that point, we identified that we needed a CAM package that could get the most out of our machines. We went to the market and evaluated the options, and it was clear from the offset that hyperMILL was the obvious choice.”

Justin Tallboys-Cotton adds: “It makes me extremely proud to see how KS Composites are embracing the tools that we have within hyperMILL. For example, they colour-code their components and use bookmarks and templates. What this is giving them as a company is consistency throughout the process, especially when different guys’ program work in different ways. It also helps with time to market; KS Composites can reduce the programming time to a bare minimum, ultimately getting parts onto the machines quicker to keep their customers happy.”

In conclusion, Dan says: “hyperMILL is making our life so much easier, especially when we are making things like a show vehicle. We are representing the pinnacle of motorsport – it’s high-performance, high precision. So, when making the patterns for this vehicle, they had to be of the same quality – that is what we have achieved with hyperMILL.”