Vertical Manufacturing Solutions
Richard Childress Racing designs and builds race cars and engines from the ground up at its 15 building, 500,000 square foot campus. To ensure success, RCR became a fully-integrated manufacturing organization to design, manufacture, and assemble the 3,500 parts required to build race cars. This vertical approach provides a broad set of capabilities to handle complex manufacturing requirements for external customers.
CNC Machining
Vertical Mills to 59” x 26” x 26”
Horizontal Mills to 30” x 30” x 30”
Mill-Turning to 25.5” Diameters
CNC Turning to 21” Diameters
Complex shapes, tight tolerances
Common Applications
Aerospace
Automotive
Defense
Other High-Tech
Metal Fabrication
Design or Build-to-Print
Bend, Roll & Form
Waterjet & Laser Cutting
MIG, TIG & Arc Welding
Powder Coat, Wet Paint
Common Applications
Components
Weldments
Enclosures
Assemblies
Build Services
Design & Build
Build-to-Print
Mechanical
Electromechanical
Prototypes & Production
Common Applications
Automation
Automotive
Packaging
Weapon Systems
CNC Machining
Richard Childress Racing specializes in complex machined components where tolerance and finish are critical. We utilize the latest machining technologies to produce high quality, on-demand parts. We use a variety of materials in billet form and machine parts from castings and forgings.
Typical tolerances range from +/-0.001″ to +/-0.005″ for metal and +/-.002″ to +/- .010″ for plastic, depending on customer requirements.
Machined Materials, Secondary Processes, and Equipment
Richard Childress Racing works with standard material forms and also machines parts from castings and forgings. Furthermore, components may be machined from a variety of plastics.
- AI BeMet
- Aluminum
- Armor
- Beryllium
- Composites
- Copper
- Hi Tem Alloys
- Magnesium
- Metal Matrix
- Molybdenum
- Nickel
- Non-Stainless Steel
- Plastics
- Stainless Steels
- Titanium
- Tool Steels
- Tungsten
While some processes are performed internally; others are provided through approved suppliers including NADCAP approved sources. Richard Childress Racing routinely machines and finishes parts that meet MIL-Spec, Boeing, and other customer specifications.
Common Secondary Processes
- Heat Treatment
- Passivation
- Surface Coatings
- CVD & PVD Coatings
- Chem Film
- Powder Coat
- Super Finishing
- Polishing
- Media Blasting
- Vibratory Media
- Laser & Other Marking
RCR has partnered with Okuma America Corporation, a world leader in the development of CNC machining technology. RCR utilizes equipment like Okuma’s 5-axis mills that enable the machining of extremely complex geometries under synchronous control. Okuma also delivers 9-axis mill/turn centers that enable complex parts to be manufactured complete in a singular set-up. High accuracy, repeatability, and the elimination of setups, manual loading and unloading translate into better efficiency.
CNC Equipment List
Vertical Milling
| Count | Make/Model | Characteristics | Axis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | OKUMA MC-V4020 | 40” x 20” x 17” | 4 |
| 1 | OKUMA MB-56VA | 41” x 22” x 18″ | 4 |
| 1 | OKUMA MX-55 | 41” x 22” x 17” | 3 |
| 1 | OKUMA MB-66VA | 59” x 26” x 26” | 5 |
| 2 | OKUMA COSMO CENTER PM-600 | 30” X 30” x 30” | 6 |
Horizontal Milling
| Count | Equipment Type | Characteristics | Axis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OKUMA MA-50HB | 27” X 30” x 27” | 5 |
| 1 | OKUMA MA-500HB | 27” x 35” x 30” | 3 |
| 1 | OKUMA MA-5000H | 30” X 30” x 30” | 3 |
Mill-Turn
| Count | Make/Model | Characteristics | Axis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OKUMA MULTUS U4000 | 25.59” Max Diameter | 9 |
Turning
| Count | Equipment Type | Characteristics | Axis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | OKUMA Genos L300-M | 11.81” Max Dia., Live Tooling | 5 |
| 2 | OKUMA Genos L300-MYW | 11.81” Max Dia., Live Tooling | 6 |
| 1 | OKUMA LU300-MY | 20.8” Max Dia., Live Tooling | 5 |
| 1 | OKUMA Captain L370-MW | 14.56” Max Dia., Live Tooling | 5 |
Other
| Count | Equipment Type | Characteristics | Axis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SODICK AQ537L Wire EDM | 14” x 22” | 4 |
| 1 | OMAX 55100 Water Jet | 4’ x 8’ w/Tilt-A-Jet Feature | 3 |
Metal Fabrication. Sheet Metal. Structural. Weldments.
RCR’s build tolerances consistently reach .030” over a 196” system. It’s our well-ordered vertical process controls that allow us to maintain the quality, consistency, and repeatability through the entire system build. The process includes a strong emphasis on metrology. We use a combination of the Metris IGPS factory floor inspection system, Romer Absolute Arm system, Blue Light 3D scan, and a Laser scanner to measure 100% of the critical dimensions for internal and external customer projects.
A full list of our fabrication equipment is available upon request.
Design & Build, Build-to-Print Mechanical & Electromechanical Assemblies
Whether we’re building race cars or components and assemblies for external customers, engineering plays a critical role in the success of the project. Design processes range from conceptual engineering to detailed design for manufacturing. With 50 mechanical and electrical engineers and ten quality engineers, we’re poised to design a solution for the most complex manufacturing environment and system type. Our experience runs the gambit, including ground systems, weapon systems, and aerospace components.
RCR’s race cars have more than 3,500 parts that must fit together to exact specifications. Even the slightest misalignment can mean catastrophic failure. Attention to detail is one of the many traits our assembly specialists have but understanding both the what and the why is the real difference maker. RCR team members take the time to understand how their job function interfaces with the entire system, providing additional quality checks to the build. For external customers, the same rigorous methods are utilized.