Over the past 10-15 years, manufacturers at all levels have begun to install coordinate measuring machines to improve inspection capability, assure consistent quality, and meet QS, TS, and ISO certification standards. Beyond knowing merely if a part is good or bad, they need additional information for adaptive and process control. Manufacturers need to take measured data, integrate it with CAD data, and compare theoretical with actual data.
Ultraform Industries, Inc, a Romeo, MI manufacturer of wireforms and medium stampings for the automotive and commercial container industries, had these goals in mind when it recently purchased a new Wenzel LH6.10.5 CMM equipped with OpenDMIS™ software.
"The CMM has become an essential part of our manufacturing process," says Don Frattaroli, Ultraform president and owner. "We found the need to add our CMM capabilities when we were selected to provide a number of safety-related airbag components to one of the leading airbag manufacturers. Our layout person, Mark Meldrum, and myself conducted a fairly exhaustive search of current CMM models and available software.
"Ultimately we decided on a Wenzel CMM with OpenDMIS™ software that we purchased from Xspect Solutions, Inc. When you are a smaller company like ourselves, a CMM of this quality is a sizable capital investment so you had better have a piece of equipment that is rugged, has a proven record of long service life, and a software package that is easily upgradeable. The calibration people we used said these Wenzel machines are built like tanks. Having been in manufacturing all my life . . . that kind of endorsement is what I like to hear."
The Wenzel LH6.10.5 is a bridge-type CMM with a measuring range of 650(X) x 1000(Y) x 500(Z) mm and a standard accuracy of TP200 U3 2.6+L/300. Designed to accommodate the measurement of small- to medium-size manufactured parts, this unit is equipped with air-bearing guideway systems in all axes to provide frictionless and wear-free operation. The X bridge and Z ram are manufactured of dark granite to achieve identical thermal behavior of all axes.
The Wenzel CMM is built with intrinsic accuracy, unlike aluminum CMMs that are only accurate due to very significant error mapping. The CMM table is finely lapped according to Grade A standard; the X and Y axes are protected by bellows. The machine is equipped with a Renishaw PH10M/TP200 probe.
The OpenDMIS™ software provides a tremendous amount of power with the level of advanced graphics capability the company now requires, according to Mark Meldrum. In addition to Meldrum, two inspectors in the CMM department have been trained in the software. "The startup curve for learning the software was a bit intense, having little or no experience with any DMIS type of software," Meldrum says, "but the Xspect Solutions people were excellent and we've never had any support issues." In fact, regularly scheduled software upgrades are loaded electronically off-site, without being requested -- a feature that Meldrum believes will help Ultraform grow with the new software capabilities.
"What we really like about OpenDMIS™ is the way is translates a graphic idea to the screen," Meldrum adds. "Basically you can see what you want to do before you do it. As an operator, you don't have to remember what vector you're in, you just click on it. The Graphics Viewer is 100% visible at all times, which maximizes our operating efficiency. It is truly click and measure simplicity."
