As high technology presses machine shops into the closest-tolerance zone, workholding becomes an integral part of the productivity/profit equation. This is especially true for manufacturers that make parts for aerospace applications, where attention to detail in workholding often means the difference between maintaining required tolerances and producing scrap. EMS Technologies Inc. is one such manufacturer of aerospace components that realizes the importance of precise workholding, said the company's manager of mechanical production, Terry Newbury. The Norcross, Ga.-based company produces directional devises called "phase shifters" for microwave systems. Among its other components, EMS makes a precision housing that holds a phase shifter and its ferrite toroid -- a donut-shaped, iron-impregnated, ceramic element. The rectangular-shaped "waveguide" housing has more than 20 machined surfaces, slots on both ends and multiple tapped holes. The part is characterized by two square beams that retain the ferrite toroid.
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