ELGIN, IL-Wilcox Associates Inc., a Hexagon Metrology company and supplier of dimensional measurement software for coordinate measuring machines, is creating an interface to communicate between the PC-DMIS Geometric measurement software and the AIMS Metrology System used by Lockheed Martin on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter project.

Lockheed Martin uses the Advanced Integrated Mathematical System (AIMS) software suite developed by Boeing and Metronor. The software suite comprises the software components of a closed-loop process for defining inspection, measurement and assembly plans, measuring the quality of manufactured parts per defined plans, storing the measurement results, and generating process capability charts and graphs from the stored results.

Because of the value to Lockheed's manufacturing process for supplier's to link their inspection results, Hexagon worked closely with Lockheed personnel to develop an affordable alternative to current translation systems.

"A number of key Lockheed suppliers on the F-35 program are using PC-DMIS, so the creation of the AIMS Direct CAD Interface was inevitable," says Ken Woodbine, vice president of sales and marketing for Wilcox Associates.

"Lockheed is working with a global supply network on the F-35 Program. AIMS makes it possible to reliably communicate with our suppliers on a secure basis to ensure incoming materials meet our demanding assembly standards," adds Joe Pritchett, quality engineer with Lockheed.