Business Profile: FusiA

Cyrille Chanal, CEO of the FusiA Group in his Montreal additive manufacturing facility.

Having aligned himself closely with the aerospace industry, Cyrille Chanal has developed a successful business model in France combining a dedicated machining operation with an upstart additive manufacturing business, and now the enterprising mechanical engineer is duplicating that model in Canada with the expansion of his FusiA Group of companies into the Montreal area.

Raised and educated in France, Chanal began his career in 1992 working with plastic injection molding. After three years he transitioned to a position with French aerospace and defense contractor, the Safran Group, working in R&D on navigation systems for missiles among other projects.

After 10 years with Safran he left to purchase a small machining shop called Esteve in Toulouse. The company focuses on work for a list of aerospace clients, and in 10 years Chanal has doubled the size of the business.

He was first introduced to additive manufacturing during his time at Safran, where he was 3D printing resins to create models for projects. “When I bought the company [Esteve], I continued to look at additive technology, and around 2010 I received some information about metal technology from EOS. It was the generation before the M 280, and the quality of the metal produced by this machine was quite good. With the M 280 we thought that for the first time it was possible to make a good quality part in aluminum, so we decided to start with that.”

So in 2011, with his wife, he launched FusiA to specialize in 3D metal printing for aerospace customers.

Now, four years later he has made the move to Canada. When asked, “What was your attraction to Montreal?”

"It was the maple syrup,” he laughs.

“No, for us it was an opportunity to continue to grow. We were interested in having a foot on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, and we were not ready to speak English all day long.”

He was also attracted to Montreal as an aerospace hub. He had visited the area a couple times for trade shows and was impressed by the list of companies belonging to Aero Montreal [an aerospace think tank comprised of major players in Quebec’s aerospace sector], so he made the decision to set up shop.

A 3d-printed turbofan designed to demonstrate the uses of titanium, Inconel, aluminium, and stainless steel.

“We have no real competitors right now,” he adds. “There are one or two other people who have not exactly the same technology as us and not the same type of production, so we think we have an opportunity here.”

It was the summer of 2014 when he announced the launch of FusiA Impression 3D métal Inc. He is set up in a 3,000 sq. ft. industrial park unit, installing a newer-generation EOS M 290 that began operation this past March. And around that same time he also acquired HRT Industries, a 12-person Montreal-area machine shop with a history of serving the local aerospace industry.

The FusiA Group now includes four companies, two in France and two in Canada, together employing about 100 people. Chanal explains that their work consists of production machining, prototyping and R&D projects.

He notes how his role involves partnering with clients, working at the R&D level with aerospace OEMs, qualifying and validating metal powders, defining specifications and creating prototypes. “Finding a good business case for using additive is not always so easy,” he says.

“We suggest to clients that we start with them at the very beginning of their projects in order to find the best and most cost-effective solutions.”

He insists the idea is not to replicate parts that are currently being machined, it’s to completely redesign components in order to reduce weight or redesign parts to integrate new functions. “Start with 10 parts and do it in one, saving time, weight, money and ultimately improve functionality,” he explains.

“I’ve discussed this with some engineers who would like to test a type of structure, taking an existing shape and putting a lattice inside (to reduce weight), but why not create a new shape, optimized for additive manufacturing?” he asks, suggesting the use of organic-like structures such as branches or the bones of a bird, shapes that can’t be easily machined. “It’s a different way of thinking, but it’s easier to make with additive manufacturing and not so strange. We explain this to people, helping them identify what makes a good subject and what is a good design to achieve results from a technical standpoint and also economically.”

Chanal has designed and created parts to show to customers, including a turbofan that is about 16 inches long and 8.5 inches in diameter.

The turbofan shows how FusiA can assist clients in optimizing their designs for additive, and it also uses multiple metals to demonstrate the ability to work with all of the materials needed to produce an actual motor: titanium, Inconel, aluminum, and stainless steel. It also shows the company is able to produce and finish all parts for a motor with those materials up to a size of around 10 x 10 x 10 inches.

He does see the market coming around and people are approaching him. “It’s surprising to see some customers that have teams that are very immersed in the area. They know how to design and create a part and how to chose the right subject. And then there are other teams that are really just beginning to discover the technology.”

He compares it to when injection plastic started and people had to change the way they designed and created parts. “With additive manufacturing it’s like that, but it’s one step more because the shape of the parts can really change, and you can really create very complicated parts with structures inside.”

He does see the market embracing the technology. “All three of our machines are full now,” he says (two in France and one in Montreal). “So we are trying to find solutions to optimize the way we run the machines.” He also adds that the company is slated add one or two more machines by early next year (one in Montreal and another in France, he notes they have space for up to 20 machines in total).

As far as finding or training operators, he says it’s a very different process than operating a CNC machine. “On these machines, most of the work happens before you turn the machine on. You have to prepare the data, and after that it’s like when you launch a rocket, if it’s okay, it’s okay. If it’s not, it’s too late.”

In Montreal, he currently has three people at FusiA, two engineers (including himself) and an administrator.

“Operating the machine itself is very light work. You have to the set down a new plate (base), clean the area, and load the new powder. It’s not operating the machine that’s complicated, it’s preparing the data correctly.”

Production does take a while, he notes. For a large part the machine will run from 20 to 30 hours, so there is plenty of time to prepare a second machine for the next production run. Preparation time between jobs can take up to three hours, he suggests, adding that one technician could operate four machines no problem.

Working closely with the aerospace sector, product quality is of paramount importance. The company works to AS 9100, the aerospace standard based on ISO 9001, and beyond that each aerospace customer also has its own rigorous demands.

FusiA uses CMM and 3D laser scanning for measuring dimensional controls of parts along with x-rays and tomography for detecting any potential structural defects.

When FusiA made the official statement of its plans to set up in Montreal last summer during the Farnborough International Airshow, it announced plans to invest about $4 million, creating 15 jobs over three years. So far it appears the company’s Canadian operation is on the right path and the runway is clear for take off.