-
Installation
-
Premier Calibration Service
-
Training
-
90 Days Warranty
Untitled Page
XSPECT SOLUTIONS HELPS TOOL & DIE JOB SHOP UPGRADE CMM CAPABILITY
FROM A MANUAL MACHINE TO A REMANUFACTURED SHFFIELD WITH NEW CONTROLLER AND OPENDMIS™
SOFTWARE
Parris Tool & Die in Goodlettsville, Tennessee has improved inspection
speed and reporting accuracy through the purchase of a remanufactured Sheffield
High Accuracy RS150 automatic CMM with new Wenzel 2030 CMM controller and OpenDMIS™
software.
Successful tool & die job shops today depend on quality and fast turnaround
to secure new business and maintain their valuable on-going work with existing customers.
In addition, having the ability to reverse engineer parts is permitting smaller
to medium sized job shops to effectively compete in a wider range of industries.
To a large extent, the software and the newer controls available on CMMs is what
allow this to happen.
Paul Parris, president and owner at Parris Tool & Die
in Goodlettsville, Tennessee recognized that in their manufacturing process, the
manual Brown & Sharpe CMM they were using was hindering their ability to get
their progressive, transfer and single hit stamping dies to market faster. Multiple
piece layouts were taking weeks to inspect when they should be taking days.
It was determined that upgrading to an automatic CMM was essential, and John Peck, the
quality control manager was put in charge of evaluating and recommending the best
CMM equipment solution.
John Peck explains, "We were quite thorough with our review
of the new CMM equipment manufacturers, but quickly determined that it would be
unwise to burden the company with a capital expenditure of the magnitude required
to provide the CMM capability we needed. Option No. 2…we went to the internet and
found Xspect Solutions, Inc. It was readily apparent that Xspect was familiar with
all of the CMM makes and had a very impressive inventory of machines that could
be rebuilt and remanufactured to whatever specifications we required. In addition,
Xspect Solutions is the North American representative for Wenzel CMMs and the suppliers
of OpenDMIS™ software which gave us the level of experience and know-how we were
looking for."
John continues, "We contacted Keith Mills, Xspect Solutions' president
and he invited us to visit their facility in Wixom, Michigan where we could see
the seventy plus CMMs they have at their facility, and together we could determine
exactly what we needed."
Keith Mills says, "From our initial discussion and review
of Parris Tool & Die's needs, we determined that a Sheffield RS150, with a measuring
range of 48 x 80 x 40-inches, like the one we had in our shop fit the cost profile
and the required measuring requirements. The RS150 CMM has a volumetric accuracy
of .015mm and a maximum load capacity of 6000 lbs. We recommended equipping the
machine with a Renishaw PH10M/TP200 probe and a Wenzel WPC2030 CMM controller that
combines the latest CNC technology with the integration of all Renishaw heads with
touch trigger probes. We also recommended OpenDMIS™ software. We had to do a little
selling on OpenDMIS™ because the Parris Tool & Die technicians were familiar
with PC DMIS and there is always a reluctance to change and learn new software.
However, once the software was previewed and the simplicity, capabilities and graphics
were proven, the Parris people were eager to have it.
Mills adds, "As luck would
have it, the RS150 we had in stock was already spoken for…so we had to go find another
one. Because Xspect Solutions' CMM network is globally broad, we were able to find
an identical machine within a week, purchase it and provide the remanufacturing
requirements and retrofit to meet the agreed upon delivery schedule."
John Peck concludes, "For the remanufactured Sheffield CMM, we built a separate temperature-controlled
measuring room which wasn't completely finished when the machine was delivered.
Xspect Solutions was made aware of our construction program and had it planned for
our operators to train at their Wixom facility in the interim so they would be ready
to begin doing layouts as soon as the CMM was completely installed. This allowed
us to effectively manage the process so we were up and running as quickly as possible.
Xspect Solutions made the whole process work smoothly and proficiently."
Xspect Solutions, Inc. headquartered in Wixom, Michigan, and is a wholly owned subsidiary
of Wenzel Gmbh of Germany. Xspect Solutions is the Number 3 supplier of CMMs in
the North American metrology market including; new Wenzel CMMs, and is the world's
largest supplier of pre-owned CMM equipment. Xspect Solutions also supplies new
Wenzel CMMs with its OpenDMIS software to the North American markets