IMTS 2004: Faro provides affordable 3-D measurement

Chicago, IL—Faro Technologies Inc. has released two inexpensive versions of one of its most popular coordinate measurement machine (CMM) solutions. Gage and Gage-Plus give small machine shops many 3-D measurement capabilities not currently available with less advanced quality control methods.

By Control Engineering Staff September 14, 2004

Chicago, IL— Faro Technologies Inc. has released two inexpensive versions of one of its most popular coordinate measurement machine (CMM) solutions. Gage and Gage-Plus give small machine shops many 3-D measurement capabilities not currently available with less advanced quality control methods. Faro adds it has the most market share in the portable CMM field.

‘Calipers, height gages, etc. have low initial costs, but it’s the hidden, in-process expenses that are costly,’ says Simon Raab, Faro’s president and CEO. ‘They can’t meet the increasing demand for parts-inspection certification data. The new Faro Gage line provides an affordable solution and an immediate ROI because of its ease of use, superior data gathering and reporting capability.’

Gage and Gage-Plus were designed to be convenient, and intuitive enough for shop-floor personnel to produce faster, more-accurate results. Each device is ready to measure out of the box, and can be set up in seconds, so users can inspect parts, molds, and assemblies directly on the machinery producing them. These Gage systems come equipped with a laptop computer, and can be customized with a complete line of accessories to best fit a shop’s needs.

Based on feedback from earlier Gage users, Faro is offering two models accurate enough for very high or intermediate precision applications. In either case the .0004-in. accurate Gage or the .0002-in. accurate Gage-Plus competes well with small, fixed CMMs that are exponentially more expensive and complex. They are also powerful enough for advanced 3-D measurement and statistical analysis, such as GD&T and SPC. In addition, the Gage devices automatically record all of a user’s measurements, and create comprehensive reports.

‘Basically, it makes a shop more productive and profitable by making their machinists’ jobs more efficient,’ says Shaun Mymudes, Faro’s hardware products manager. ‘They don’t have to transcribe numbers, which is an error-prone process with other handheld measurement tools, or perform any calculations. They now have the action-ready data they need to immediately fix their parts and processes, which decreases downtime and scrap.’

For example, Wichita, KS-based Big Dog Motorcycles (BDM) uses the .0002-in. accurate model to monitor 2-D and 3-D hardware properties. ‘On incoming parts, we use it to check hole-centers and perpendicularity of parts,’ adds Mike Davis, BDM’s quality control manager. ‘On assemblies, we check planar relationships, such as the location of a brake rotor with respect to the caliper. You can’t do this with mechanical gages because there is no way to recreate the planes that you’re measuring.’

Faro and its international subsidiaries design, develop, and market software and portable, computerized measurement devices. Its products allow manufacturers to perform 3-D inspections of parts and assemblies on the shop floor. This helps eliminate manufacturing errors, and increases productivity and profitability for a variety of industries.

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editorjmontague@reedbusiness.com


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