Portable Cmm - Enabling High Measurement Accuracy On The Shop Floor

By Author: Beth Giddens
Total Articles: 14
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Inspection facilities in a fabrication plant are usually found in a separate room with all the advanced measurement equipment for quality control personnel to use. Fabricated parts from the production floor are brought to this facility to be checked if they conform to the original design. However, would it not be great if the fabricated products were checked as soon as it rolls out of the production equipment? While it may have been unlikely in the past, it is now a possibility with new tools brought about by modern technology. Among such tools is the portable coordinating measurement machine.

The portable coordinating measurement machine enables inspection engineers to test a fabricated product for measurement accuracy right on the production floor. This saves the company a lot of money and time because you do not have to bring the product to the inspection facility but instead, perform the necessary examination and immediately perform any corrective action if there is a need to do so. Using a specialized inspection software, measured data is automatically compared to the corresponding 3D model to help inspection engineers ...
... determine the next move.

Most of these portable CMMs have advanced features like being able to do either guided or freeform measurements. The best thing about portable CMMs, however, is that they are able to perform these tasks in an environment where nasty conditions such as vibration occur. Its highly advanced technology simply ignores these conditions while giving you reliable accuracy concerning the measurements. With traditional portable instruments, vibration interferes with their operation resulting in a less-than-accurate data. The state of the art technology that comes with every portable CMMs allow you to operate in unstable conditions, giving you precise and accurate information right off the production floor.

A portable CMM also offer a faster and easier measurement process. It comes with a battery that allows it to be operated anywhere for long periods. Some feature Bluetooth technology that makes for an easy operation without the hassle of cords tangling all the way to the electrical outlet. This makes it easy for the inspection engineers to perform effortless examination up to thirty feet away without wires.

Third party inspection teams that are sometimes hired by the company also bring with them portable CMMs for use in their examination process. Their portable CMM feed the information to a computer and matched to the data that the original design has. Deviations and tolerance conditions are also clearly displayed in real time.

With all the advantages that a portable CMM has, it is unthinkable for any fabrication plant not to have one in their possession. These portable CMMs deliver information fast so that proper decisions can be made immediately.