1. 38 METALWORKING NEWS v 14. 1 March 2015
M
AN Diesel & Turbo
South Africa, the
compressor and
turbine blade
manufacturing subsidiary of
European multinational
MAN Diesel & Turbo SE,
based in Augsburg, Germany
and one of the world’s leading
providers of large-bore diesel
engines and turbo-machinery
for use in marine and power
station applications, has been
gearing up to seamlessly
transform the local operation
into a Center of Excellence for
turbine blade manufacture,
while at the same time going
beyond its usual markets
and vigourously entering the
power generation arena.
In 2004 MAN Turbo AG
of Oberhausen, Germany
opened up a South African
subsidiary, in a deal
facilitated by Ferrostaal.
The investment in the
manufacturing facility was
linked to the industrial participation and offset investment
commitments of the defence procurement programme. At the
time Ferrostaal was an industrial services company in the
MAN Group, and was the commercial partner in the German
submarine consortium that supplied three U-209 submarines
to the South African navy.
Through various acquisitions and sell-offs MAN Turbo AG
subsequently became MAN SE, and in 2009 the International
Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) of Abu Dhabi acquired
over 70% of the shares of Ferrostaal AG from MAN AG. In
March 2012 MAN SE sold the remaining shares in Ferrostaal.
The South African plant is situated in Elandsfontein, east
of Johannesburg near the East Rand. The facilities include
3 000 m² of workshops and offices, 30 ton lifting capabilities,
complete machining facility for blade production, service and
repair, sandblast, shotblast and spray painting facilities.
At the time Rico Taxer, MAN Turbo South Africa's
managing director, said its turbine blade exports were worth
about R40 million a year. Its long-term strategy was to increase
these exports and the workforce. It has certainly done so if
current expenditure on capital equipment is anything to go by.
When the company opened in 2004, the installation of a
new Deckel Maho DMU-100T 5-axis machining centre to
manufacture the turbine blades in titanium and various other
alloys, was the pride and joy of the modern facility. The
installation included special software for machining of the
blades, and combined with the NC swivelling head (B-axis)
allows true constant surface speed, faster cycle times and
increased tool life.
Other features of the machine included a laser type tool
measuring system, a Renishaw infrared measuring inspection
probe and a minimum lubrication system.
The versatility and flexibility of the Deckel Maho T-Series
machines also allows for other complex machining of
components, including large impellers and other related
components used in both the turbine, aerospace, marine and
related industries. The machine was commissioned by Retecon
Machine Tools.
Such was the success of this machine and the growth in
the company’s local and export business, MAN Diesel & Turbo
South Africa invested in a further three Deckel Maho CNC
machining centres, two Heller CNC machining centres and two
Dah Li CNC machining centres. Further investment included a
Leadwell CNC machining centre.
The local operation manufactures in the region of
150 blades a day, which are used on new or refurbished
compressors and turbines. Included on the machining side are
spacers, which are used when there is no foot machined on a
blade.
With the blades working in situations of up to 12 000
RPMs, all of them are machined from solid blocks. The blades
manufactured locally are up to 700 mm in length.
The process starts off in the blocking department where
imported material is cut to size and then rough machined on
conventional milling machines. From there it moves to the
high tech equipment where each individual blade has to be
machined to 20µ tolerance, before moving through inspection
MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa
invests further in South Africa
shopfront focus
MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa has seen progressive growth over the last ten years
servicing the MAN fleet of compressors, expanders and steam turbines

2. METALWORKING NEWS v 14. 1 March 2015 39
and polishing.
The blades are then either exported back to
the parent company in Germany, or used locally in
the assembly of axial and centrifugal compressors
and gas and steam turbines used in the power
generation, refinery, blow furnace and sugar mill
industries.
Other equipment included the investment
in a DEA 3D Global coordinate measuring
machine and other state of the art inspection
equipment.
Where previously MAN Diesel & Turbo
South Africa had to contract out for the dressing
of shrouds and labyrinth seals when refurbishing
large compressors and turbines, the company can
now perform this machining function inhouse. The
arrival on the floor, from the parent company, of a
refurbished Heyligenstaedt CNC lathe, now
performs this operation.
Also sent from the parent company at the
same time was a refurbished special purpose
5-axis Starrag CNC machining center that has
five spindles and five heads. This machine is
being used for the machining of the blade profiles
and the transition area on the blade.
The company now has fourteen 3, 4 and 5-axis CNCs.
All this expansion meant that the company had to
keep up in the design office, which is used mainly for the
design of components for replacement when carrying
out repairs, and for the interpretation of drawings from
Germany.
Turbocharging turbine and turbo replacement
component manufacturing
In recent years the company has built a thriving turbine and
turbo machinery replacement component manufacturing
operation. Requests for parts and complete replacement
components stream in from South Africa’s power generation
and chemical industries, either directly from the customer or via
Blades are manufactured
for aircraft engines and
power generating turbines
MAN Diesel & Turbo
South Africa
manufacture a range of blades

3. 40 METALWORKING NEWS v 14. 1 March 2015
MAN PrimeServ, the
division which the local
operation falls under. But
that’s not all.
Part sizes range from
25mm long to 1200mm long.
Orders range from a few
replacement blades to
thousands, or for all of the
turbine components needed to
rebuild a massive steam or gas
turbine. The equipment that
needs to be repaired or rebuilt
can be decades old. So
frequently there are no
drawings to work from. These
are the conditions that the
company deals with week in
and week out.
Charles Swart, Production Manager for the turbine
component manufacturing operation, said the company has
learned to cope with these diverse challenges by investing
heavily in the best available CNC manufacturing
technology.
“The equipment is kept operating productively by using the
advanced capabilities of Mastercam® CAD/CAM software.
The CNC programs are written by one full-time Mastercam
programmer and by myself. I estimate that the amount of work
moving through my operation has increased by about 40% over
the past five years. However, we have been able to keep up with
the ever-increasing program generation requirements by relying
on the flexible CAM software features that allow for ongoing
improvement of CNC programming and manufacturing
productivity,” explained Swart.
Everything model-based
Charles said the engineering department has an
exceptional level of proficiency in reverse engineering of
worn or damaged turbine components, using scanned data as
the basis for creating SolidWorks models that the
programmers import into Mastercam as the starting point for
CNC manufacturing programs. This information is then pulled
off the server as an IGES or Parasolid file. Translating the
model into Mastercam is always clean, so there is no need for
further discussions with the engineers about design intent.
Charles says this is a big time saver and keeps work moving
forward.
With an eye toward
transforming models into
effective manufacturing
programs as quickly as
possible, Charles and his
programmers have
standardised their CAM
programming process so that
each always understands
what the other has done.
These standards ensure that
CNC programming is efficient,
machine utilisation is high,
and CNC equipment
operates at reasonably
high cycles with barely any
scrap.
Some of the principles
the company has adopted to facilitate this high throughput
CAM workflow include:
Pull toolpaths from parts with similar geometries:
The part files contained on the MAN Diesel & Turbo file server
contain hundreds of manufacturing programs that can be
used as guides for programming parts with similar geometries.
Toolpaths and other manufacturing strategies can be readily
translated from an older manufacturing program to a new one.
Incorporate standard workholding fixtures:
Most of the CNC programs written at MAN Diesel & Turbo
incorporate standard work holding fixtures that are visible
within Mastercam, allowing the program to be refined so that
ideal clearances are visualised and established within the
program. Parts in the manufacturing queue are set up in the
fixtures ahead of time so that it is only a matter of minutes
to snap the next one onto the CNC machine and keep cutting
chips. Efficient setups dramatically improve productivity but put
pressure on programmers to stay ahead of the manufacturing
equipment.
Use tool libraries to reduce programming time:
In more than 95% of the cases, the same special blade
material is used. Hence the use of a tool library is beneficial.
The library contains tested and proven speeds and feeds
calculated for the specific tool. Keeping up-to-date
information in tool libraries means that this information
can be quickly entered into the program instead of having to
The company stocks a sizeable amount of bar
which is cut to size on an Everising -H560 HA column type
bandsaw supplied by First Cut
MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa have invested in Deckel Maho
CNC machining centres, Heller CNC machining centres, Dah Li
CNC machining centres and a Leadwell CNC machining centre
Laser-based refurbishment, based on
laser cladding technology, is now available on the
factory floor at MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa

4. METALWORKING NEWS v 14. 1 March 2015 41
use complicated formulas to calculate the best settings.
Always keep the CNC program in Mastercam:
When simple changes come down from engineering, or tweaks
are required to the program to improve a part’s manufacturability,
it is tempting to change the CNC code at the machine’s
controller. This is a temptation that Charles and his programmer
avoid almost without exception. By always making manufacturing
program changes within Mastercam, programmers have the
option to post the program out to any machine in the shop,
whereas programs that were modified at the code level can
only be run on the machine at which the program was
modified.
Pre-inspect processes and parts using simulation
and STL-Compare:
The two programmers routinely use simulation within
Mastercam to identify tool and holder interferences and to
make sure all of the material has been appropriately removed
from the part. They also use Mastercam’s STL-Compare feature
to compare the STL file generated by Mastercam to the actual
part model. This high-resolution comparison is so realistic that
it is possible to visually detect potential blemishes on the part’s
surface just by looking at its image on the computer
screen.
Eliminating air cutting:
Traditional toolpaths can sometimes generate large amounts of
“air cutting” due to inefficient tool movements or because the
toolpath thinks there is material present where, actually, there
is none. This is not much of a problem if there are only one or
two parts to make. However, air cutting can greatly impede
productivity if there are many of the same part in the
manufacturing queue. When excessive air cutting is detected
in a long part run, Charles goes back into Mastercam and uses
simple graphic programming tools to define these areas on the
part where it is occurring and refine tool movement to reduce it.
Get help for challenging process problems: The company’s
maintenance license for Mastercam entitles it to free upgrades
to the software and as-needed technical support from Mecad
Systems, the nearby Mastercam Reseller. In most cases the
Further capital expansion has been put into the
quality department. This includes acquiring a 7-axis Romer
measuring arm. Looking after this department are
Bryan Hollingshead and Derek West


5. 42 METALWORKING NEWS v 14. 1 March 2015
programmers will get answers by phone or email to resolve
programming issues within hours. Mecad has also
collaborated with MAN to resolve more complex technical
issues. For example, it helped the company devise a 5-axis
cutting process for long, steeply curved blades that require
long tools to reach deep surfaces. A unique cutting motion
generated from within Mastercam improved the approach of the
tool to minimize vibration and achieve high rates of productivity
without sacrificing quality. “This was a very big success for us,”
Charles said.
Growth through acquisition
In November 2013 the company entered into an
agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in the family-owned
Elca Engineering (Pty) Ltd.
At the time, the incumbent CEO of MAN Diesel & Turbo SE
Dr. René Umlauft stated: “This acquisition underlines our
growth strategy in Africa and enables us to offer an even
broader range of services in the Sub-Saharan region.”
With a strong customer base, excellent reputation and
more than 45 years of experience, Elca Engineering will keep
on serving customers under its established brand name. Elca
mainly provides repairs, servicing and overhaul of compressors,
turbines, blowers and pumps, supported by a well-recognised
team of field service engineers with experience throughout the
entire African continent.
Company prepares to expand and further invest in
turbine blade manufacturing – Adds cutting edge technology
to its manufacturing capabilities in anticipation of increased
demand
Holding company MAN Diesel & Turbo SE has now decided
to invest in its blade manufacture operations in South Africa to
support the three locations it currently occupies, which include
Zurich, Switzerland and Oberhausen, Germany.
“We are very proud that our location in South Africa has
been afforded such large investments, and will be considered
on par with the locations around
the world. This will entail
setting up a Center of
Excellence in Elandsfontein,
Gauteng, which we are
currently busy with and are
scheduled to move into in
mid 2015,” said
Gary Muller, MAN
Diesel & Turbo
South Africa’s Sales and
Operations Manager
Blades.
“MAN Diesel & Turbo
South Africa has seen
progressive growth over the
last ten years servicing the
MAN fleet of compressors,
expanders and steam
turbines. To continue
our growth in the blade
manufacturing industry
and secure further market share,
we are constantly looking at new
technologies and how to incorporate
them into our production. We look for
innovative features and processes that
will improve our quality, reduce our delivery time and improve
our flexibility,” Muller continued.
“As our market regions have grown and our customer
requirements have changed. We see the need to increase our
capacity, and at the same time reduce our costs before passing
this benefit forward,” explained Muller.
New 3 500m² manufacturing facility
“Besides the new 3 500m² manufacturing facility that is
“The new Liechti Turbomill machine allows us to machine blades
up to 1 350 mm in length, which is a big advantage. To give you a
comparison, the blades used on the turbines at the Koeberg nuclear
plant in the Western Cape are only 1 280 mm in length.”
MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa
Production Manager Charles Swart

MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa have recently installed a
DMG tool pre-setter supplied by Retecon Machine Tools
A new Technifor laser
etcher is used for marking
and traceability

7. 44 METALWORKING NEWS v 14. 1 March 2015
being built adjacent to the current building, we have invested
in a high-end Swiss made Liechti Turbomill 1400g CNC
turning/milling machine. Our machine arrived in December
2014 and was commissioned and operational for the new
production cycle in January 2015.”
“The Turbomill is a single spindle 5-axis machining
center for high precision machining at high feed rates.
The machine is used for rough and finish machining of
complex shapes as needed in the blade manufacturing
environment.”
“The machine is highly specified with some notable
capabilities. A high speed milling spindle, with integrated
vector-controlled motor allows high-torque roughing with low
spindle speeds, as well as finish cuts with high speeds and
feed rates. The unique axis arrangement takes into
consideration the different dynamical requirements for the
various axis by appropriate mass distribution, so that the most
dynamic axis has the lowest mass. The g-Double end part rotary
drive uses a rotary drive instead of the tailstock to drive the
tip end of the work piece. The drive is powered by a separate
torque motor, which runs synchronous over the CNC control to
the root end drive.”
“Our partnership with Liechti Engineering, which is now a
GF Machining Solutions company, will help us achieve our
goals and those of our customers. We will use the experience
and knowledge from our Zurich and Oberhausen locations to
ensure a successful setup of the Centre of Excellence.”
“It is envisaged that a further two 5-axis machining centers
will be added to the shopfloor once we are in our new facility,
and this will give us the capacity to manufacture in the region
of 300 tons of blades annually. We currently have a capacity of
about half that amount.”
Additional equipment
“In addition, we have put further capital expansion into the
other operations of blade manufacture. This includes acquiring
a 7-axis Romer measuring arm, a DMG tool pre-setter and a
laser etcher for marking and traceability.”
“Another exciting development has been the purchase of a
3D printer whereby we are now able to print a sample in three
to four hours. Previously it took over a week to deliver a sample
to a client.”
Power generation development – going beyond the
usual markets
“Another new development is that we have started a drive
to enter the 3rd party blade manufacturing arena with a
particular emphasis on the power generation market. In this
industry we need to ensure that we have suitable machining
capabilities to service this market. We are confident that this
first Turbomill with its maximum part length of 1 350mm will
help us serve customers in this market.”
“The new Liechti Turbomill machine allows us to machine
blades up to 1 350mm in length, which is a big advantage.
To give you a comparison, the blades used on the turbines at
the Koeberg nuclear plant in the Western Cape are only
1 280mm in length.”
“An example of how we have improved efficiencies since
we introduced the one operation machine is that we have
improved machining times by over 60%. Components that used
to take us three hours of machining time have been reduced to
one hour, and another one that took 40 minutes is now done in
15 minutes.”
Today the company employs approximately 140 staff in
Elandsfontein, 150 in Vanderbijlpark where Elca Engineering
are based, 40 in Cape Town and 10 in Durban. The company
also has a branch in Kenya and will shortly be opening one in
Namibia.
For further details contact MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa
on TEL: 011 842 0700 or visit www.mandieselturbo.com
Besides manufacturing and refurbishing blades,
MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa is capable of refurbishing
complete systems for clients
MAN Diesel & Turbo South Africa have employed Mastercam® CAD/CAM software to operate their CNC machines