Measurement

RSS

Zeiss Industrial Metrology opens a new facility in Wixom, MI, dedicated to the latest developments for the process chain in car body metrology and automated inspection.

Walking the floor of the International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago—between the 100,000-plus attendees and the thousands of booths—it was impossible not to notice the ongoing trend towards speed and automation in every aspect of manufacturing. It’s no different in metrology, as more manufacturers look to automate their inspection processes.

Paul W. Critchley saw the power of lean as a plant manager at a growing medical device company. As the orders increased, every day the two-person shipping department struggled to make deadlines, getting in at 6:30 a.m. and rushing all day in order to make the UPS truck deadline at 5 p.m.

In the realm of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs), system accuracy is no longer the bottom line. Today’s manufacturers require faster measurement speeds in addition to highly accurate machines.

For more than 50 years, coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) have been improving measurement productivity and quality. The power of CMMs has made many complex inspection tasks seem almost trivial. With this much measurement capability, is it possible operators are taking their CMMs for granted?

U.S. industry must rectify currently unmet needs for measurement science and “proof-of-concept” demonstrations of emerging technologies.