LARGEST TRAVELING BRIDGE CMM IN THE U.S. INSTALLED IN ILLINOIS
A new plant expansion included the purchase and installation of a huge CMM for measuring very large housings, engine blocks and large off-road type equipment frames and frame attachments.
Posted: March 3, 2010
Meta Tec, Inc. (Lacon, IL) is a precision machining company that purchased and now operates what is believed to be the largest Wenzel traveling bridge-type CMM sold and installed in the U.S. from Xspect Solutions, Inc. (Wixom, MI). The new Model LHF 30.20.60 has a 3 m (9.84 ft) x 6 m (19.68 ft) x 2 m (6.56 ft) measuring envelope capable of inspecting very large housings, engine blocks and large off-road type equipment frames and large frame attachments.
Founded by David Suffern in 1988 as a precision machine shop, Meta Tec originally specialized in machining aluminum and iron castings. Its products included aerospace components as well as hydraulic transmission and pump bodies. In order to broaden its capabilities and customer base, the company began doing fabrication work for various customers. As the amount of fabrication work grew, the company split into two divisions: Meta Tec Inc., the original precision machining company, and Meta Tec Limited, the newly formed fabrication company.
In 2002 Meta Tec Development was added to the group, specializing in first-cut operations as well as heavy fabrication. Current customers include Caterpillar East Peoria, Caterpillar Aurora, Caterpillar Decatur, Caterpillar Morton, Hitachi Truck Manufacturing, Waukesha Engine and BOMAG Americas.
Leon Adcock, quality manager for Meta Tec, explains, ?We have undertaken a major plant expansion over the past year to accommodate the added level of new business in the area of machining off-road equipment frames. We operate two manufacturing facilities: the 100,000 sq ft main facility in Lacon and a 41,000 sq ft facility in Varna, IL, for handling lower volume frames and components.?
?When we expanded the main facility,? Adcock continues, ?we built a 1200 sq ft room-within-a-room to provide a temperature-controlled facility for a new large CMM (see Figure 1). We designed it with rails in the floor so large parts could be easily moved in and out on carts, as well as grouped, so multiple parts could be in position for measuring in sequence.
?Our objective is to inspect parts around the clock so results can be reviewed each morning. It was my responsibility to do the research and the information gathering to determine the best CMM for our large part needs,? says Adcock. ?We already had three other smaller CMMs, so we had relationships with other manufacturers. I selected the four CMM manufacturers that offered equipment large enough for our parts and then put together a spreadsheet to compare them all. I visited several CMM companies and audited some of their software classes to evaluate each of their benefits and features.?
Adcock explains further, ?Ultimately we settled on purchasing this LHF traveling bridge-type CMM. First, because of the inherent accuracy of these CMMs: I like having the X-rail, Y-beam and Z-ram all manufactured from dark granite to achieve identical thermal behavior of all axes. Secondly, the ease-of-use and features of the OpenDMIS software and, thirdly, we were able to purchase the machine at a competitive price, comparable to the other CMM manufacturers.?
Additional features on the this machine include an air-bearing guideway system in all axes, providing frictionless and wear-free operation. The system has a maximum 3D measuring speed of 700 mm/sec, with maximum acceleration of 2,000 mm/sec2. The machine is equipped with a Renishaw TP20 probing system and a probe changing rack. The CMM uses a HT400RC wireless teach pendant to eliminate tedious keyboard interaction (see Figure 2). ?The wireless teach pendant is a must have for a machine this size where you literally walk around the parts,? notes Adcock.
?At the end of the day,? he concludes, ?We have been very satisfied with the entire process of purchasing, delivery and installation of this CMM. I personally visited Wenzel in Germany to approve the final run-off of the machine before it was shipped to us. If there were any issues that adversely affected the process, they and Xspect took extra steps to ensure that the customer/supplier relationship was maintained at a very high level.?
Xspect Solutions is the number three supplier of both traditional CMMs and GMMs to the North American metrology market. Wenzel GmbH manufactures products that are intrinsically accurate, negating the need for the huge error compensation files to achieve quoted accuracies which have become the norm for most manufacturers in past years. The black granite used on this equipment is processed in-house at their manufacturing facilities in Germany, not imported from China pre-finished, which in now the industry norm.
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Xspect Solutions, Inc., 47000 Liberty Drive, Wixom, MI 48393, 248-295-4300, Fax: 248-295-4301, XspectSolutions.com, [email protected].