With GAGEtrak^®, Metso Paper Passes ISO Audits with Ease

Metso Paper is a global supplier of sustainable technology and services for mining, construction, energy, metal recycling and the pulp and paper industries. Metso was created in 1999 through the merger of Valmet, a paper and board machine supplier, and Rauma, a fiber technology, rock crushing and flow control solutions company.

Metso’s Aiken Service Center, located in Aiken, SC focuses on the company’s pulp and paper industry utilizing GAGEtrak Calibration Management Software to track its hundreds of instruments as well as hundreds of calibrations each year.

Jeff Vuick, the GAGEtrak user at the Aiken facility, began using the product in 2009. Vuick’s supervisor had used GAGEtrak at a previous company and recommended the software be brought it into the Aiken facility. The move to GAGEtrak was a big one, as the company had previously used spreadsheet programs and paper notices to track calibrations.

GAGEtrak was all new to Vuick as he undertook the task of transferring everything from the old system into GAGEtrak. One of Vuick’s favorite features in GAGEtrak is the gage cloning feature which helped immensely during the initial data entry process. GAGEtrak provides information on when a calibration is due, on which gage or instrument, whether the gage is in-house or outsourced and, as Vuick notes, “…this system is known to the ISO auditors, so this is a big plus for our company.”

Metso does not compromise on their service, customer offerings or their quality management software. That’s exactly why they chose GAGEtrak - to help them keep delivering uncompromising quality year after year.

GAGEtrak is used at thousands of facilities worldwide to improve measurement quality, assure compliance and increase efficiency. Contact CyberMetrics today to learn how GAGEtrak will do the same for your company.

“The AM custom stylus’ impact on productivity has been profound”

Linex Manufacturing is a division of Linamar Corporation, one of the world's leading automotive parts manufacturers, which uses multiple Equator™ flexible gauges at many global production plants. Its core business lies in the production of automatic transmission components used in medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. Their customers are global transmission manufacturers, and production volumes are high.

A move to Renishaw's Equator™ 300 automated gauging system gave Linex Manufacturing all the inspection speed and accuracy it needed. Introducing the Equator™ gauging systems to Linex' shop floor had a significant positive impact on productivity, increased production capability and inspection process throughput. However, on a project implemented before the larger Equator™ 500 was available, bolt holes on the extremities of a workpiece lay just outside the gauge's working envelope. When standard styli and stylus extensions could not reach, an additively manufactured custom stylus provided the answer.

The introduction of the custom-designed, additively manufactured stylus brought Linex the accuracy and repeatability it needed to inspect component bolt holes outside the Equator™ 300 gauge's working envelope. Narcis Georgescu, Senior Quality Supervisor at Linex Manufacturing, said, “Thanks to its robust, one-piece design, the titanium 3D printed stylus has enabled us to carry out full component inspections. It brings a combination of lightness and stiffness that we could not achieve.” A few years on and the original AM stylus is still running without any degradation in its performance.

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Measuring Force Characteristics of Mechanical Keyswitches

A mechanical keyboard manufacturer needed to quantify the tactile feedback and switching characteristics of their keyswitches for quality assurance purposes.

After consulting with Mark-10 product specialists, it was determined that a multi-step distance limit test configured via the company’s IntelliMESUR^® software platform would be ideal for measuring resistance on both the compression and release strokes of a keyswitch. A test frame was configured with a 2 lbF force sensor, an extension rod, and a rubber tip.

Tests were performed on multiple switch types and tactile feedback was represented by a plot of force vs. distance in IntelliMESUR^®. Key data points were recorded including initial force (the force required to start actuating the keyswitch) and maximum compression force. This data was then used to classify each keyswitch into linear, tactile, and “clicky” categories.

By adding this test procedure to their quality assurance workflow, the manufacturer was able ensure operational consistency for each of their keyswitch categories.

Transforming GE Appliances With Digital 3D Measurement Data

GE Appliances and its leadership relate how improving access to 3D measurement data drives innovation and entrepreneurial spirit across the company.

Having 3D part data in the hands of those who need it makes for faster and more efficient decision-making in design, production, quality assurance, and service areas, among others.

Sharing data in real-time has taken identifying, understanding, and solving product problems from a matter of days and weeks to hours.  Product assessments, simulations, and analyses can all happen digitally before making significant investments in prototyping and production, not only accelerating efficiencies but improving quality.

In addition, having a web-based streaming data management solution required no installation of proprietary software that would require specialized training, making access to 3D models and measurement data easy for hundreds of users across the company.

Breaking down barriers and silos and interconnecting everyone who can benefit from digital 3D measurement data is the promise of PolyWorks|DataLoop™. This scalable data-management solution can handle vast amounts of data produced by multiple measuring sources (CMMs, laser scanning, etc.) and make it available to engineers and decision-makers across your organization. Teams can measure parts, review results, troubleshoot issues, and proactively adjust manufacturing processes simultaneously, a force multiplier in productivity and product quality. 

See and hear how GE Appliances’ transformational experience can benefit your business.

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Eliminate the Guesswork

“We utilize over 50 pallets that continuously produce parts faster than we could inspect them.  Even with our automated CMMs, production was creating quite a bottleneck in QC and throughout our assembly stations. Parts on the CMM and in laser marker were also taking way too long.  The action of the Loc-N-Load™ quick swap plates and the versatility of the Inspection Arsenal® and Laser Arsenal®, helps us inspect and process parts faster - boosting productivity of both machines.

We also use the Inspection Arsenal® to inspect our AQL lots from parts that are machined with our collaborative robots. These are inspected in groups specific to each machine cell and co-bot. The part tending co-bots that run 24 hours require vigorous AQL inspection after each nightly run. We build fixtures that can be used across all of our metrology equipment and if the job calls for it, we can get creative enough to go directly to laser marking in the same fixture. This takes the time and guess work out of complex fixtures the machinists need to use on a regular basis out in the shop and in the lab. We’re able to verify the quality of more parts early in production which minimizes spindle down-time, so we can keep machines turning and machinists busy all day with the confidence that our parts are perfect. We retain fixtures for jobs that repeat frequently for the same kind of setup reduction in inspection as we employ on the shop floor.” 

Scott Ferrecchia Vice President, Lincoln Tool & Machine