You could say Robert Howard knows a thing or two about contract dimensional measurement services. He is the founder of Carolina Metrology in Duncan, S.C., and has spent the last 15 years in the metrology, quality and measurement areas managing a number of inspection shops.
The quality of the services you provide for your clients depends on many things, but the equipment you choose is paramount in dimensional measurement services. Especially when your new business only has time to get it right the first time.
“The key to success in contract measuring is to be able to program fast and have equipment that can run parts with a high degree of accuracy and repeatability,” said Howard. “When you can provide high-quality dimensional service, understand the degrees of accuracy of the different types of equipment and supply the scheduling and timing required to meet the customer’s requirements, you have mastered the fundamentals of CMM measuring.”
When Robert Howard was starting Carolina Metrology he chose Perceptron’s Coord3 for his CMM needs. He knew he was going to need a CMM supplier that could get the company up and running as fast and efficiently as possible. Shown here, Howard inspects a part on the Coord3 Hera CMMS.
Getting up and running quickly is important to any new business. For dimensional measurement businesses, choosing a CMM supplier that can respond quickly is a must. The logistics of getting large equipment coming from long distances can be tricky. These were some additional concerns for Howard when starting Carolina Metrology. Ultimately, he and his team chose Perceptron’s Coord3 for their CMM needs.
“We had access to a complete range of Coord3 measuring centers and direct access to TouchDMIS software with its touch interface. The traditional CMM software programs that we had prior experience with accessed functionalities through a complex system of toolbars, dropdown menus and window selections. TouchDMIS gave us a user interface using smart technology with full CAD capability, minimizing learning time to just a few hours.”
Elliott Mills, CMM product and sales director for Perceptron, said, “Ultimately, we provided two different types of Coord3 CMMs. A Coord3 Hera 10.7.7 model with a Renishaw PH20 probe and a Coord3 Hera 15.10.9 with a Renishaw PH10MQ for large part inspection and tactile and laser scanning.”
The COORD3 HERA CMMs are a series of small and medium measuring volume bridge DCC CMMs that offer measuring platforms with integral dovetail X axis machined directly into the granite plate. The HERA CMMs can be equipped with Renishaw touch or scanning probes and are a suitable choice for manufacturing measuring applications. The Hera Model 10.7.7 has a measuring range of 1,000 x 700 x 700 mm. The 10.15.9 Model has a measuring range of 1,500 x 1,000 x 900 mm.
Howard added, “It’s really the CMM software that gives a measuring service like ours the ability to react quickly, but interestingly, we had been using three other different software versions. With the Hera machines we could continue to use the other softwares until we familiarized ourselves with the new TouchDMIS. We now prefer our new software because it takes the guess work out of CMM programming by integrating CAD data with the CMM programming and measurement process.”
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