Make The Leap To a More Automated and Interconnected 3D Metrology
Industry 4.0, a new way of organizing production and manufacturing resources characterized by the intensive use of digital technologies, is expanding and helping to improve operational efficiency and decision-making on the manufacturing chain. The volume of data to be managed is growing accordingly, and Metrologic Group is developing and innovating its software suite.
Meeting The Metrology 4.0 Challenge
Industrial companies are facing complex challenges related to digital transformation and the adoption of Industry 4.0:
➤ Greater investment in emerging technologies: such as artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced robotics that automate, optimize, and connect production processes.
➤ Transformation of control operations and processes through the integration of these new technologies, increasing efficiency, flexibility, and responsiveness.
➤ A need of diversification for data management, with data coming from sensors, machines, and connected systems. Efficient and rapid strategies for managing and analyzing this data must be put in place, to extract exploitable insights, improve decision-making and optimize operational performance.
➤ Increased vigilance over data security and confidentiality: as systems become more connected and interconnected, the risks to data security and protection against cyberthreats increase.
Metrology 4.0, which refers to the integration of digital technologies, automation and Industry 4.0 concepts into industries’ measurement and control processes, has an important role to play in these changes. It modernizes traditional metrology practices by using advanced technological solutions to improve measurement efficiency, accuracy, and traceability.
Metrologic Group Fits Into Metrology 4.0 Approach
Offering customers solutions for automating measurement processes and making data management more reliable. Automation of a metrology program offers a robust solution to modern manufacturing challenges, enhancing process reliability and reducing operational costs. This enables industrial companies to guarantee product quality, optimize operations and maintain competitiveness. An automated system is more reliable, faster, and more flexible. It therefore requires larger volumes of data to obtain more precise, refined, and consistent measurements, which guarantee product quality and avoid the risk of error.
“Meaning, for metrology software, being able to collect large volumes of data from different points on the production line, process them together and analyze them rapidly to communicate information to the user in real time,” explains Pierre-Jean Laporte, Product Specialist at Metrologic Group. “Hence the importance of having a measurement and control system that operates in a closed circuit, to facilitate data transmission while reducing the risk of error during transmission and saving time.” Closed-loop operation means that the production line can be managed from start to finish, within the same plant or on several different sites.
Cross-Functional Global Solutions Through End-to-End Process
Optimizing a metrology process for an industrial company means thinking globally: from planning to the analysis of results. By following key steps and taking a proactive approach based on planning, programming, measurement, analysis and continuous optimization, a company can improve product quality, reduce waste, and strengthen its competitiveness in the marketplace.
Metrologic Group is part of this approach, offering its customers a universal 3D metrology solution that streamlines their overall measurement process and integrates with existing systems. What are the key stages?
Planning: Upstream preparation of work and inspection, based on an assessment of the user’s specific needs, saves time. What quality parameters need to be measured? What standards and regulations need to be met?
Programming: Offline programming with inspection job simulation puts an end to production line interruptions due to errors, and results in a more efficient measurement program. When inspection programs have been simulated and tested virtually, they are error and collision-free when applied to the manufacturing process. What’s more: an offline simulation program, such as Silma X4 or Silma X4 i-Robot, can work directly with native or neutral CAD files and automatically interpret GD&T.
Measuring: A software architecture such as METROLOG X4 enables users to import and process large CAD files and analyze high-volume point clouds without decimation. X4 measures online and collects massively relevant data, in real time and in a secure environment. This ‘universal’ software can interface with all measuring devices, laser trackers and optical systems.
Controlling and Analyzing: Controlling the measurement process opens the door to interaction with production to promote continuous improvement. Moreover, tracing the measurement process back to its origin is essential to meet quality requirements and regulatory standards. Real-time reporting through statistical analysis is a relevant tool that immediately resolves problems, resulting in reduced downtime, defects and non-conformance. These periodic reports enable interconnected data sharing, correction and decision making based on metrology results that highlight trends, deviations and corrective actions taken. The end-to-end process is therefore fully in line with the Metrology 4.0 approach, managing the entire measurement and control process within a single platform.
Offering Customers Universal Solutions
For a project that truly matches its needs, the user must be able to choose its applications and software. Metrologic Group has always advocated agnostic and universal solutions, to interface with other tools and platforms. Since its integration into the Sandvik Group in 2018, Metrologic Group has been exploiting relevant synergies with sister companies. “It makes sense to work together to cover more in the production chain and offer more advanced solutions to manufacturers. For example, DCS has two tools that we feel are important,” explains Laurent Monge, President of Metrologic Group. “QDM, which stores and manages large quantities of data generated by measurement systems, and 3DCS, which brings real-life data into the virtual world. So it’s vital for us to work with DCS to offer our customers a complete solution, without closing any doors.”
Metrologic Group will be exhibiting its full range of Metrology 4.0 solutions at the upcoming Control Exhibition Hall 8 Stand 8305.
For more information: www.metrologic.group
