Hexagon revs up QC at Royal Enfield

Prestige motorcycle manufacturer Royal Enfield has boosted productivity and improved quality control checks thanks to a Romer portable measuring arm from Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence. Engineers are using the equipment for a range of scanning and inspection tasks at its new research and design facility in Leicestershire.
The 3 m arm’s capabilities have impressed the chassis development team as it allows the inspection and scanning of some motorcycles in a single exercise without the need to move and reposition the kit. For other motorcycles, leapfrogging using the arm and Polyworks software is said to be quick and easy.

Inspection data is not only used to verify prototype motorcycles in relation to their CAD intent, but also to check production tolerances offline and build quality, as Chris Hunt, chassis development project engineer, explains: “The Romer arm has helped us to improve accuracy, reduce user error and save time. It’s both quick and user-friendly. Also, Hexagon’s training and technical support services are very good and staff are always on hand to guide us through any problems and new challenges.”
Dave King, Royal Enfield’s motorcycle accessories quality assurance manager, favoured the Romer arm over competitor models mainly because of its calibration feature: “We required a portable measuring arm for scanning prototype parts to confirm accuracy and benchmark our products for design development, so the calibration feature was a key point for me.
“The Romer arm’s calibration bar and process are particularly beneficial to our operations as a lot of uncertainty on the measuring system is removed,” he adds.
For further information www.hexagonmi.com

No stone left unturned at Technoset

Technoset has built a strong reputation for supplying complex components to the aerospace industry over a number of years. More recently, the company has steadily increased its manufacturing capabilities and staff skills to move further up the industry’s tiered supply chain. At this level every detail counts, which is why a Wogaard Coolant Saver is playing a notable part in ongoing business development.

Part of the Techno Group, Rugby-based Technoset is a precision engineering company specialising in one-hit manufacturing of precision turned and milled components. Having continually invested in the latest fixed- and sliding-head CNC machine tools with up to 13 axes, driven tooling and full turning and milling capabilities, the company is able to offer a high degree of flexibility to its customers.
Continued success for the company means investigating and evaluating every potential business advantage, as managing director Kevan Kane points out: “Even at the high-end of the sophisticated parts we produce for our customers there is still a need to look for efficiencies and enhancements. We are under constant pressure to improve the operation of our business. These pressures can be financial or environmental, or a combination of these key drivers. There can even be peer-pressure from other members of the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, or Coventry and Warwickshire Aerospace Forum, to do better.”

One of the most recent improvements on the shop floor has come from the installation of a Wogaard Coolant Saver. The simplistic design and execution of both the Wogaard Coolant and Oil Saver is said to belie the potential benefits it can provide to manufacturing companies. Using very few component elements, the system efficiently collects the normally wasted cutting fluid which is dragged out of the machine by the swarf that is evacuated by the automatic chip conveyor or swarf auger. The neat oil or water miscible (soluble oil) cutting fluid is reclaimed by siphoning it from the chip container and returning it to the machine tool’s main coolant tank for reuse.
Using a vacuum generated within its body to draw the fluid out of any container, the Wogaard unit is powered by the machine’s coolant pump, so no additional power source is required and fitting remains a straightforward operation requiring just a few pipe joints that can be specified in an optional fitting kit available for most popular machine tools.

“You must consider with coolant that you are not only buying the fluid, but you need to pay to dispose of it, so waste is a great consideration,” explains Kane. “We initially tested the Coolant Saver on one machine, and the benefits were both clear and immediate. It was then a case of fitting a unit to all of our milling machines and all of the fixed-head turning centres. We also fitted the new Oil Saver to our sliding-head machines, where the savings on neat oil and disposal of waste have an impact on the business bottom line that is even more dramatic.
“The downtime for any machine tool waiting for coolant levels to be replenished has been reduced to a minimum, and the operators appreciate not having to fill the sump so often,” he continues. “We run a core day with overtime. The nature of the material we machine, plus the tight tolerances required, do not lend themselves to running lights out. However, we often leave the batch running on the machine at the end of the day, which we can now do confidently knowing that the sumps will not alarm out because the coolant level is low.”
Each of the Coolant and Oil Savers has been installed in-house by Technoset staff.
“In a year or so we will have the accurate figures on the savings achieved, but right now it is just making life much simpler for all of us,” says Kane. “Today, except for one, each of the machine tools on our shop floor has a Wogaard unit fitted and our housekeeping is much improved. We like to think that we are a forward-thinking company. As such, no stone should be left unturned; you should look at your business from every facet.
“There is simply no way we would go back to a shop floor without the Coolant and Oil Savers fitted to the machines,” he concludes. “Walk around now and the swarf bins are dry with material that is ready to be responsibly recycled. And we know the coolant, be it oil or water-based, is getting reclaimed and recycled quickly and efficiently back into the same machine tool’s sump, so there is never any worry about cross contamination.”
Technoset was founded in 1978 and moved into its present modern factory, which occupies 1600 sq m, in 1988. The company can offer scheduled deliveries, Kanban systems, small (single figures) to large batches, assembled components, and will undertake the management of subcontract processes such as heat treatment and plating. Technoset manufactures turned products from 0.4 to 65 mm and milled components up to 800 x 400 mm. A wide range of common and more exotic materials can be machined, including titanium, Colsibro, Berylco, Arcap, high-temperature alloys, ferretic stainless steel and precipitation and austenitic stainless steel. Technoset also guarantees the traceability of products throughout the process.
For further information www.wogaard.com

Measuring up to 3D-printed parts

Quality assurance is vital in the production of accurate, patient-specific implants, endoprostheses and surgical guides. Consequently, Baltic Orthoservice in Kaunas, Lithuania is now using a multi-sensor CMM with laser scanner in conjunction with a micro-CT (computed tomography) system, all supplied by Nikon Metrology.

The Altera CMM with LC15Dx laser scanner supports the fast inspection of 3D printed implant surfaces and screw holes, while the XT H 225 CT guarantees internal structure quality and accurate geometrical correlation between CAD implant model and manufactured product.
Paulius Lukševičius, mechanical engineer, says: “3D printing is a complicated technology and there is a big variation in processing parameters, so predicting the quality and geometry of printed objects is quite a challenge. Patient-specific implants mean that the surgery must be ‘pre-planned’, virtually, so the implant can simply be put in place. To be able to execute the virtual plan, it is vital to be 100% sure that the implant geometry is exactly the same as the CAD model, and that the holes are machined to high accuracy.
“To fulfil these goals, we use a variety of metrology equipment,” he continues. “The CMM with laser scanner is irreplaceable when we need to perform fast checks after each manufacturing and post-processing stage, especially to check spherical surfaces, bearing surfaces and hole angles.”
Using this non-destructive, accurate metrology solution in its new quality control laboratory, together with a Nikon XT H 225 micro-CT system, helps
Baltic Orthoservice gain a deeper understanding of its products. In turn, this allows the company to “confidently produce bespoke implants and improve the quality of treatment for patients”.
For further information www.nikonmetrology.com

Measurement is Renishaw’s focus

Intelligent machining processes are critical to companies that want to exploit the full benefits of Industry 4.0, and throughout its main stand at EMO in Hanover last week, Renishaw demonstrated the integration of its latest measurement technologies within a manufacturing process.

Products highlighted included a new contact-scanning system for CNC machine tools, new software for the Equator flexible gauge which allows users to integrate the system with CNC machines, new on-machine and mobile apps that simplify the use of machine tool probing, an enhanced non-contact tool setter for machining centres, a new multi-probe optical interface system, a new surface finish probe for CMMs, and new software that enhances the functionality of Renishaw’s XM-60 multi-axis calibration system.
A new machining cell concept with integrated process control was also shown, demonstrating how complementary technologies can contribute to high levels of productivity and manufacturing capability.
The new on-machine scanning Sprint system with SupaScan is designed for simple integration into machine tool applications requiring fast workpiece set-up, and where overall cycle time is critical. Renishaw’s system also provides the ability to perform advanced scanning functionality, such as monitoring the final condition of a component surface. Testing on typical industrial components has seen cycle time reductions of over 70% when compared with standard high-speed touch-trigger cycles, says Renishaw.
Renishaw also demonstrated its developing range of smartphone apps for machine tool probes and tool setters. GoProbe (pictured) is an enabling technology embedded within the latest Renishaw macro-based software packages. Together with associated training materials and user reference tools, this technology is designed to simplify the use of the company’s machine tool probes and tool setters.
For further information www.renishaw.com/emo

Xtrac gets into gear with Mitutoyo

Thatcham-based Xtrac, a manufacturer of transmission and drivetrain technology, has added to nearly 30 years of specifying Mitutoyo equipment by investing in three Crysta S776 CNC CMMs in the past 24 months. These most recent arrivals are all direct replacements for Mitutoyo BHN series CMMs that had been at Xtrac for over 20 years.

“The technology in modern CMMs, and particularly the MCOSMOS software, enables us to import CAD data, program our parts faster, improve both online and offline part-program creation from imported CAD models, and extend our geometry handling of freeform surfaces,” explains inspection manager Neil Warwick. “Added to this, the axis movements and motors in the new CMMs are faster than previous generations, resulting in reduced inspection cycle times.”
All six current CMMs at Xtrac utilise the same Mitutoyo MCOSMOS software, the same workholding jigs and fixtures, and the same Renishaw probing systems.
However, with the ever increasing complexity of parts, a CMM cannot support the measuring of all geometries and features. This was apparent for Xtrac when a particular Formula One component had undercuts on form gears that needed to be machined and measured to tolerances of ±5 µm. Here, Mitutoyo recommended its Formtracer contour measuring machine (pictured).
A precision arc scale built into the Z1-axis detector of the Formtracer SVC-3100W8 allows the arc trajectory of the stylus tip to be read directly. The capability and success of the Formtracer soon brought the arrival of two Contracer CV-3100H8 machines with X- and Z2-axis travel of 200 and 500 mm respectively. This was followed by a smaller CV-3100H4 machine.
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk