CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
January 2005
Company News
Delcam Offers Free Guide to CAD Inspection
Delcam has produced a free guide to the inspection of prototypes, tooling and sample components against CAD data. This will help all companies planning to move to inspection using CAD as the reference data, in place of the traditional methods based on comparison of components against drawings. The guide, which is available in CD format, can be ordered from the Delcam web site - http://www.delcam.com/ - or by e-mailing marketing@delcam.com .
The increased use of CAD data for inspection is part of a general trend in manufacturing in which the three-dimensional CAD model has replaced the drawing as the main source of reference data. Most design data is now issued to sub-contractors as CAD models rather than as drawings. It is more efficient and reliable to allow inspection directly against the CAD model than against drawings generated from that model.
The Delcam guide describes both inspection with a range of specialist equipment, including both static and portable coordinate measuring machines, and the increasingly popular methods for on-machine verification. Videos of typical inspection operations of each type are included to make it easy to compare the results possible with different approaches.
One of the main reasons why inspection against CAD data has become more common is the increasing complexity of components in practically all industries. For example, today's automotive interiors mainly feature smooth flowing surfaces, instead of the rather boxy shapes of a few years ago. It is difficult to describe these complex surfaces unambiguously in two-dimensional drawings. Clearly, any ambiguity in the drawing undermines the reliability of the whole inspection process .
The release of the Delcam guide comes at a time when companies need to pay more attention than ever to their inspection procedures. The rise of the "quality culture" has meant that companies can no longer rely on their reputation when quoting for work. They must also be able to demonstrate the quality of their products in much more formal ways. Companies supplying the aerospace and medical sectors must meet particularly stringent requirements for documented quality standards. However, with customers in all sectors ever more ready to resort to litigation in any dispute, every manufacturing company must pay increasing attention to its quality standards.
In addition, the introduction of more automated machining and assembly operations, often involving robots, means that components must reach a higher level of consistency. Significant differences between one part and the next cannot be accommodated in these systems, making it even more important that any components that are out of specification are identified and removed from the production line as soon as possible.
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