Work is quite hectic these days for Tom Leab of NSK Steering Systems America, Inc. As Metrology and Inspection group leader, Leab oversees the operation of three NSK labs -- metrology, inspection, and metallurgy -- at a time when business at the company's Bennington, VT, facility is booming. As the world's largest independent manufacturer of steering columns and associated components, NSK boasts names like Ford, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Mercedes among its customers.

So the labs are busy, and when Leab saw an item in the quality trade press about a new Digimar motorized, automated height gauge from Mahr Federal that can measure parts up to 40 in. long, he was immediately interested.

"It was the added height I was looking for," said Leab. "Because of the column length, a lot of things are measured in the vertical direction. It worked out well with that."

Speed and Efficiency Aid Production

But the Digimar® CX2 gave him more: it provided a degree of speed and efficiency that not only facilitated the measurement process, but also helps keep up with demand in a rapidly growing production environment.

Q1, ISO 9000, and soon to be TS 16949 certified, the NSK lab complex is fully equipped and climate controlled. The metrology lab handles 90% of the company's calibration needs and 65% of gauge repair, and also serves as a gauge crib, dispensing and tracking a host of micrometers, calipers, depth gauges, dial indicators, and more. A metallurgy lab verifies weld penetration on critical column components; a prototype lab handles developmental work; and the inspection lab handles incoming parts and final part inspection.

It was primarily to facilitate final part inspection that Leab purchased the Digimar CX2 Height Gauges.

"We have three CMMs for final inspection," he said, "and they were running 24 hours a day. So we had an issue with piece part inspections. We had to wait to get time to go on the CMMs, and since the largest was only a 24 in., we ended up using precision V-blocks and things of that nature just to raise it up. We just didn't have the height."

Leab bought two Digimar CX2s and mounted them on a 60 x 120 x 20 in. thick granite surface plate in the inspection room. "Two people can use them simultaneously and it saves a lot of time." Leab also bought one for the metrology lab, where it supplanted an older height gauge, and here the gauge's facility and ease of use first became apparent.

Benefits of the Digimar

The older gauge, he said, was "just difficult. It seemed to us that if you didn't use it four to five hours a day, continuously, you would forget how. It was just too difficult. It also had its good points," he added, "but it was lacking in the height. We didn't have the range."

But when he saw a demonstration of the Digimar CX2, he just "fell in love with it. The computer touchpad walks you through the measurements," he said. "Compared to the other gauge, it's just so much easier."

The Digimar CX2 is part of a family of motorized, programmable height measuring systems that offer a combination of features and performance previously available only in higher priced equipment. The line is well suited for both gauge lab and production measurement use.

All Digimar height gauges from Mahr Federal have fully motorized measuring slides to minimize operator influence on part probing for greater measurement precision and repeatability. Key measuring functions can be executed with a single press of a button; and readily programmable measuring routines make it possible to sample batches of mass produced parts quickly and easily.

Numerous measuring and evaluation functions include the measurement of planes, grooves, bores, and shafts, and the calculation of distances and symmetries. Max-Min measurements are also supported, as are perpendicularity measurements in conjunction with a digital dial indicator. Canned routines for basic features and simple Teach and Learn techniques make it easy to program the CX2 for a wide range of measurement tasks.

While metrology and inspection lab technicians are not exactly computer averse, it's a relief "not to have to go back to the manual all the time," said Leab. With the older height gauge, "that became very cumbersome. The Digimar is just so much easier and more efficient."