Modern Machine Shop

AUG 2017

Modern Machine Shop is focused on all aspects of metalworking technology - Providing the new product technologies; process solutions; supplier listings; business management; networking; and event information that companies need to be competitive.

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46 MMS August 2017 mmsonline.com SHOP TALK for the local market will leverage the same tech- nologies and strategies the company is evange- lizing to its customers worldwide. That's not to suggest that the company expects customers to commit exclusively to the Hexagon ecosystem when it comes to their choice of CMM, measuring arm or other technology. "Manufac- turing intelligence" should be brand-agnostic. N o r b e r t H a n ke, p r e s i d e n t o f t h a t d i v i s i o n, described the company's mission as "producing technology to plug into your infrastructure and process" in order to leverage quality data through- out the production cycle. Once production begins, this digital thread doesn't have a distinct ending or beginning. Rather, it forms a continuous feedback loop of quality data. If a measurement compares unfavor- ably with a nominal, such as a CAD model or CMM measurement of a fin- ished part, the process is corrected accordingly to improve manufactur- ing efficiency, and pos- sibly quality as well. The difference in the smart factory is that this hap- pens automatically, con- tinuously and in real time at eve r y stag e of th e product development c y c l e . C o n t i n u o u s improvement—indeed, continuous learning— i s i nte g r ate d d i re c tl y into the manufacturing process. Of course, it can be challenging to weave a unified "thread" through traditionally siloed pro- duction stages, let alone assets that don't always play nice together. This i s w h y o p e n d a t a - exchange formats like M T C o n n e c t a r e s o critical, and why prod- ucts like Smart Quality need to work with mul- tiple types and brands of equipment. It's also w h y H e x a g o n h a s broadened its focus in recent years. The April purchase o f M S C S o f t w a r e i s ex p e c te d to s im il a r l y i n f o r m t e c h n o l o g y

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