Witco Inc. Chooses a New CMM for Versatility |
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Witco Inc.'s CEO Georgina Witt and her son, President Kevin Witt, had a multifaceted challenge ahead of them when they began their research for a new coordinate measuring machine (CMM). First, they wanted to upgrade their company's CMM technology so they could better compete with other job shops in the aerospace, medical and mineral exploration industries. In addition, they wanted to measure and inspect these high precision parts efficiently with the latest technology. Georgina and Kevin also recognized the need to upgrade Witco's inspection of gear components to a much higher AGMA classification. This would call for sophisticated technology. They identified a need for a CMM that could enhance Witco's Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) inspection and reporting capabilities. In addition, Carl Zeiss Calypso software would give Witco the capability of utilizing solid CAD models to create measurement plans. Witco would then have the ability to exchange these measurement plans with customers for consistency and correlation of measured features on the components. "We looked at various CMMs including one that was specifically for inspecting gears. We even considered upgrading our manual inspection equipment for gears," said Kevin Witt, President, Witco Inc. The Carl
Zeiss PRISMO Super-Accuracy machine with the VAST Gold Active Scanning sensor
and CALYPSO software technology was selected. The CMM is equipped with a
five-station stylus changing rack, which enables the user to store various probe
configurations in order to inspect many types of parts. The Prismo Super-Acc was
also configured with a surface mount rotary table to allow for the inspection of
gear geometry. "An optional surface mount rotary table was integrated onto the
granite plate to provide gear inspection capabilities and increase flexibility
for non-gear applications," said Mr. Witt. |
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The Zeiss PRISMO Super-Acc is designed for incredibly accurate inspection and provides a measuring range of 1,200 x 1,800 x 1,000 mm. The VAST Gold active scanning sensor provides optimized scanning speeds up to 300 mm per second. Zeiss' patented VAST technology provides collision protection for all directions of movement with high accuracy. The probing force can be adjusted to the stylus geometry and the work piece material. It can be programmed between 50 and 1,000 milli-newtons. The CALYPSO software technology is object oriented and can produce automatically generated measurement strategies. The VAST Gold probehead can be configured with styli extensions up to 800 mm in length and 600 grams of weight. "Active scanning is a probing technology that Zeiss pioneered over 35 years ago. This patented technology allows the user to measure probe deflection, probe force and apply constant force to the work piece. All these factors combined provide the customer an extremely accurate and repeatable probing solution," said Tim Callanan, Regional Sales Manager, Carl Zeiss IMT. "The PRISMO is Zeiss' flagship machine and has been the face of Zeiss Active Scanning technology for almost two decades. The PRISMO machine provides the most flexible CMM solution in the industry today. The MASS (Multi Application Sensor System) system provides the customer the ability to move between the VAST active scanning probehead, to an articulating RDS scanning probehead. The RDS can also be equipped with the LineScan laser triangulation probe and the ViScan optical camera probe. The PRISMO Super Acc MASS CMM allows the customer to utilize all aforementioned probe technologies on one footprint at an extremely affordable price," said Mr. Callanan. "After some research and dialogue with Kevin and Mike at Witco, it was apparent that the PRISMO Super Acc MASS machine was a great fit for the various applications they see on a daily basis," said Mr. Callanan. "The new Zeiss PRISMO CMM can help us meet our customer's measuring and inspection expectations," said Mr. Witt. "We can integrate gear inspection and other high precision component inspection on one CMM, eliminating the need for a costly exclusive gear inspection machine. The VAST active scanning technology provides high accuracy form and geometric inspection for all types of components," said Mr. Witt. Witco Inc., founded in 1977, is a certified woman-owned company with 52 employees. The precision machining job shop serves customers in the medical, aerospace, automation fixturing, industrial and other industries with all types of component and assembly orders including prototypes, short runs and larger volume production runs. Specific products include shafts, gears, guides, mechanical/electrical clamps, pneumatic connectors, hydraulics, machined castings, machined forgings, pulleys, housings, adaptors, manifolds, blocks, base plates and valve bodies. Capabilities in the shop include turning, milling, grinding, gear cutting and shaving, all aspects of mechanical inspection, optical inspection, manual and DCC CMM inspection, gear inspection, assembly, honing and lapping. "Our new Zeiss PRISMO coordinate measuring machine will allow us to fulfill our mission at Witco. Our mission is to provide complete customer satisfaction by successfully employing resources to assure a competitive position while satisfying the needs of our customers, employees and suppliers through our dedication, quality, skill and effort," said Kevin Witt. For more information contact: Kevin Witt President Witco Inc. 6401 Bricker Road Avoca, MI 48006 810-387-4231 Fax: 810-387-4145
Tim Callanan Regional Sales Manager Carl Zeiss IMT 6826 Kensington Rd Brighton, MI 48116 Cell: 248-867-0877
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