Making the Old, New!

In May 2006 IMT Corporation made the move to PC-DMIS Measuring Software for their Starrett Vanguard Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM).  PC-DMIS was the software of choice for its ease of use and strength in CAD integration.  However, over the last few years service calls and maintenance on the Starrett CMM have been continually increasing.  Fearing a catastrophic failure, IMT Corporation had a decision to make: buy a new CMM or retrofit the Starrett with current electronics.  This was an important decision because, along with product and project innovations, advanced technology and quality assurance processes are the mandate of IMT.  Their employees are committed to Customer Priority #1 – service.

Doug Lemon, IMT Quality Assurance Manager, noted that "more frequently replacement parts were becoming scarce, and if the parts were available, delivery tended to be long."  The Starrett CMM at IMT Corporation is in use every day on all shifts, employed for "First Article Inspection, Capability Studies, In-Process Checks, and Operator Process Checks (OPC)."  The Quality Assurance lab is an integral part of IMT Corporation's process – having the CMM down for a week or even a day would be detrimental to deliveries and In-Process Checks.

One of the considerations was to purchase a new CMM with a measuring stroke of 1200mm x 3000mm x 1000mm XYZ.  This proved to be cost prohibitive – a machine with this measuring stroke complete with options could easily fall in the $300,000 (US) range.  As a result, Doug Lemon concurred with the decision not to purchase a new CMM.

After consulting with Canadian Measurement-Metrology Inc. on their dilemma, a controller and scale upgrade was proposed as the solution.  IMT Corporation was already utilizing PC-DMIS Measuring Software and ultimately the Brown and Sharpe  Controller would provide the best "handshake" between software and CMM.

The retrofit was completed during IMT Corporation's winter shutdown.  CMM Inc. had promised the retrofit would be completed in no more than four days.  At the end of Day Three the CMM was travelling in all axes and calibrating tips.  A bit of fine tuning was necessary on the fourth day at which point CMM Inc. was confident in "handing over the keys."  Unbeknownst to CMM Inc., Doug had planned for two contingency days for any unforeseen circumstance, extra time which turned out to be unnecessary.  He is happy to report that CMM Inc. completed the retrofit "flawlessly" – as promised.

In the next twelve months Doug anticipates the CMM will be performing better than expected as a result of the two-stage retrofit and upgrade.  Doug envisions being able to bring into the lab gauges they currently out-source with complete confidence in the measured data.  This will result in cost savings and ultimately the Return-On-Investment will be realized sooner than expected.

IMT Corporation is a major manufacturer and supplier to the truck-trailer, OEM and Defence industries.  Located in Southwestern Ontario, IMT Corporation is positioned in Canada's economic and industrial heartland and geographically located to service the globe.