Getting The Most From Your CMM certification

In these days of tight budgets and money shortages, it's hard for the quality department in a typical plant to justify the added cost of an OEM or an OEM representative calibration.  Certainly, the costs of bringing in an independent is very attractive.  What are the differences and why would you contract the OEM for CMM certification if they cost so much more?  The following are a few observations relating to the differences:

CMM certification performed by the OEM will include the update of the map.  90% of all maps can only be updated or changed by specialised software provided by the machine manufacturer.  Therefore, the third party vendor has only the ability to check the machine and not make any changes to the machine's accuracy.

 In some cases, more adept independents have the ability to fiddle with the linears.  Unfortunately, playing with only one aspect of a map can change other areas, causing out of tolerance conditions in other parts of the machine volume.  Consequently the old adage that a certified CMM is not necessarily an accurate CMM is true. 

Manufacturers of coordinate measuring machines invest many millions of dollars in creating software that can accurately and swiftly update the very sophisticated map that resides on their equipment.  It's not hard to understand then, why an independent service provider cannot possibly give you the same end product.  The only exception to this rule is if the machine requires no adjustment to be brought within specification.  In this case, basically anybody  who is equipped with a laser and possibly a ball bar can do the job!

Many companies believe that because a service provider is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited he knows what he's doing.  In certain situations this may not always be the case. Different systems require specialized training and competency. The ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation only indicates that your CMM certification company follows a specific set of procedures but does not guarantee any level of competency with a particular manufacturer's products. 

For future CMM certification, would you go for an independent or an OEM?  With an OEM, you will have the peace of mind knowing the fact that problems can be addressed immediately before they escalate to disastrous proportions like down time, loss of business and money. Think about your bottom line and the possible consequences and risks to your business. Contact http://www.cmmxyz.com/.