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Quality March 2019

2019 March

Check out the March 2019 edition of Quality: 2019 Quality Plant of the Year, handheld gages, gage management solutions, and much more!

2019 Quality Plant of the Year

2019 Quality Plant of the Year: Quality Takes Flight at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale Center of Excellence

Michelle

Michelle Bangert

February 28, 2019

If you ever get a chance to watch an aircraft being built, take it. Walking through the aircraft hangar at Northrop Grumman’s Palmdale, CA, facility, you will see two unmanned aircraft, each with a 130-foot wingspan, parked behind yellow tape. The scale of the aircraft and the desert setting make it feel like a movie set.

Optical measuring systems

Fast and Flexible: Optical inspection systems measure parts in a flash.

Roger Zeoli Francesco Piunti

March 1, 2019

Pick up any shaft or threaded fastener. How are you going to check it? An outside micrometer is most often the go-to tool for measuring diameters. A height gage or drop indicator could be used to check dimensions between part features, while an optical comparator is a good way to inspect thread forms or measure a groove width.

gage management system

How to Decide on your Next Gage Management Solution

Three paths to consider.

March 1, 2019

Each new journey begins with a single step. That common proverb applies to most aspects of life, including the decision to start a new business or organization. A company can look back fondly to that first bold and courageous decision to merely begin.

smart hand tools

Choosing the Right Smart Handheld Gage

Gages bring a whole new level of measuring capability to the user.

March 1, 2019

As with every other function in modern manufacturing operations, inspection is subject to the management team’s efforts at cost control or cost containment. It is good business sense to maximize the value of every dollar spent, but it also means that hard choices must be made when selecting handheld gages.

Speaking of Quality

In Search of Precision Measurements

This is a new experience for many students.

March 15, 2019

I am in my tenth year as a part-time instructor at Western Michigan University, currently working with junior- and senior-level engineering students. I instruct the hands-on metrology lab of Dr. Pavel Ikonomov’s metrology class. We have about 15 weeks for this three-credit hour class to introduce metrology, focusing on precision measurement. We have about 45 students taking three hours of lecture and three hours of lab each week.

From the Editor, Darryl Seland

Bridging the Gap

Connecting the nonconnectable.

Darryl

March 15, 2019

Bridging the gap is a popular idiom derived from Old English. In its earliest use—and not surprisingly—bridge meant “to make a causeway” and gap meant “an opening in a wall.” So, to the drywallers, civil engineers, and road construction crews of the early 14th century (Ha!), bridging a gap was quite literal.

Model-based inspection software

GD&T, Manufacturing Imperative

Without it, nothing ships, and nobody gets paid.

March 8, 2019

Today’s manufacturing industry relies on the use of GD&T definitions, and the ability to verify parts directly to them for first article and production inspection and reporting. Only then do orders ship and the manufacturer gets paid. Price and scheduling are negotiable, quality is not!

Other Dimensions

Do I Have to Calibrate That?

Here's the general rule of thumb in these situations.

Hillcox_200

March 15, 2019

I have received a couple of emails from readers recently concerning what does or does not have to be calibrated within a quality system. In both cases, the companies already have a program in place to ensure their measuring equipment, masters, etc., are calibrated on a regular basis but an odd item has popped up leading to debate within the company on whether that odd item has to be included in their calibration program as well.

Face of Quality

Pursuit of Quality

Beware of pitfalls, disguises and misconceptions

Jimsmith_200

March 8, 2019

It’s a rare company that doesn’t want to implement a better quality system, resulting in performance excellence for their company, employees, customers and stockholders. However, the pursuit of quality is easier said than done.

3D smart sensor

Q&A: 3D Smart Sensors, Deep Learning, and The Future of Automated Quality Control

The CEO of LMI Technologies describes how 3D sensors are integral to a new era of quality.

Leah

March 1, 2019

For quality professionals, the modern 3D smart sensor has moved to the center of conversations around quality in the automated age. Though 2D imaging remains popular, the rising affordability and strategic advantages of 3D vision for the smart factory are difficult to overstate.

Multi-Camera Vision System from Teledyne Dalsa.

Teledyne DALSA Multi-Camera GEVA 400 Vision System

March 1, 2019

Teledyne DALSA announced a new compact, low-cost vision system for multi-camera applications.

parallel gradient line pattern.

Patterned Area Lighting Simplifies Imaging of Reflective and Transparent Surfaces

The goal of PAL lighting is to enhance diffiult-to-image flaws so machine vision software can evaluate them.

Jeremy Brodersen

March 1, 2019

Lighting selection and setup play a critical role in the success of a machine vision application. Vision systems rely on specific types of lighting to optimize contrast or to highlight a specific feature of interest.

higher resolution

Designing a Better Sensor for Small Parts Inspection

Smart technology advancements are at the heart of today's movement toward better sensor design.

March 1, 2019

In industries like consumer electronics, battery, and solar, the race for ever faster scanning, measurement, and control is critical to delivering 100% inspection of small parts moving at production speed.

Typically inspection

Can You Save Time and Money by Automating your Quality Processes?

Whether you are looking at industrial robots or cobots, automation can be a great solution.

March 1, 2019

More and more industrial manufacturers are moving towards automated solutions both to improve efficiency and solve staffing dilemmas. These jobs are often boring, repetitive, and/or prone to injury due to the work environment or the repetitive motion.

Quality control applications

How to Choose a Precision Measurement Sensor: Key Considerations

In precise part inspections, a reliable solution is a must.

March 1, 2019

Quality control applications that require precise measurement can be some of the most challenging applications to solve. Very tight tolerance requirements demand a reliable solution that can measure parts in micrometers to detect the smallest variations in part size, thickness, orientation, placement, and more.

Smart line scan cameras from Eye Vision Technology (EVT).

Smart Merkur Line Scan Camera Series

March 1, 2019

The Merkur camera series combines a line scan camera with a smart camera and makes it a high-speed system for the inspection of endless material, printing material, paper web and steel band, in the printing industry and textile production.

New Products

Pixelink Polarization Camera

March 6, 2019

Pixelink, a Navitar Company, has released their new polarization machine vision camera built around the Sony IMX250MZR Pregius global shutter CMOS sensor.

New Products

Keysight Technologies PCI Express 5.0 Technology Solution

March 1, 2019

Keysight Technologies, Inc. announced a comprehensive transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) testing solution providing the speed and margins needed to meet the Peripheral Component Interconnect or PCI Express® 5.0 Technology (PCIe® Gen5) standard.

New Products

Mikrotron Suite of Machine Vision Cameras

March 1, 2019

Mikrotron introduced a suite of new cameras.

Smart Camera from Omron Automation Americas.

Omron Launches FHV7-Series Smart Camera

March 1, 2019

Omron Automation Americas announced the release of a brand-new FHV7-series smart camera featuring the world’s first multi-color light alongside a range of best-in-class image sensors (0.4MP to 5MP, with 12MP coming in the near future). This unique technology is designed to achieve the industry’s highest standards of precision in vision inspections on high-mix production lines.

Industrial Camera Series from LUCID Vision Labs, Inc.

LUCID Triton Industrial Camera Series

March 1, 2019

LUCID Vision Labs, Inc. announced the addition of four new Triton GigE Vision camera models featuring Sony Pregius global shutter CMOS image sensors.

New cameras from Allied Vision.

Allied Vision Mako GigE cameras

March 1, 2019

With a firmware update, Allied Vision extends the feature set of the Mako G cameras equipped with Sony Pregius CMOS sensor. The Mako G-040, Mako G-158, Mako G-234, Mako G-319as well as Mako G-507 now support IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) support and action commands for triggering the camera via the Ethernet connection (ToE).

Electrical tester calibrator from Fluke.

Fluke 5322A Electrical Tester Calibrator

March 1, 2019

Fluke Calibration introduces the 5322A Electrical Tester Calibrator, a multi-device calibrator built to facilitate compliance with exacting international standards such as the United Kingdom’s BS7671 17th Edition, IEC/EN Standards, Australia and New Zealand’s AS/NZS 3000 and Chinese verification/calibration regulations for various electrical testers.

Quality Magazine

Quality March 2019

2019 March

Check out the March 2019 edition of Quality: 2019 Quality Plant of the Year, handheld gages, gage management solutions, and much more!

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