Herman Miller’s metal parts manufacturing plant, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan (USA), speeds up the fine tuning of manufacturing processes by acquiring an Ace Skyline measuring arm.

The metal parts produced are various and, as a whole, require 3D inspection. Traditionally this was done with a CMM in a metrology room, but for 3D inspections of bent tubes, a new measuring solution was needed to handle the complexity of the shapes involved.

The company chose a 3.5 m Kreon measuring arm with a 3D Skyline Wide scanner. What made them opt for a Kreon arm?

  • Fast familiarisation and easy installation
  • Flexibility of use in the workshop or the metrology room thanks to the portability of the system
  • High-performance, rapid and precise 3D scanner
  • Productivity gains thanks to faster measurement data acquisition
  • A single solution covering several applications

The Skyline Wide scanner quickly provides a dense point cloud that can be compared with the CAD file. Several checks, with tolerances between 0.1 and 1 mm, can be made: bore diameters and positions, bend angles and more. It is easier to fine tune the tube manufacturing process because any deviations discovered during inspection are interpreted immediately, allowing the production machine settings to be corrected.

Levi Meyer, Head Metrologist:
“The Ace Skyline arm, initially acquired for inspecting tubes, has come into its own in other applications too.”

Beyond the metrology room, the Ace Skyline arm is used in the company’s welding workshops for quickly checking joining accuracy. It is also proving a valuable asset for reverse engineering deep-drawing die parts with complex shapes that have been tweaked manually.

About Herman Miller:

Herman Miller, founded in Michigan (USA) over a hundred years ago, today sells office furniture around the globe, relying on some 8,000 members of staff. The company is known for partnering with famous designers such as Charles and Ray Eames and for having produced the best-selling office chair in the United States – the Aeron.

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