manufacturing automation

Key Points

• Factories installed 542,000 industrial robots in 2024, more than double the number a decade earlier, according to the International Federation of Robotics.
• As cells run longer and with fewer people, many manufacturers are moving coordinate measuring machines closer to production so parts are checked within minutes of machining.
• Temperature is the main challenge on the floor, since 20 °C has been the reference temperature for industrial length measurement since 1931.
• Shared data standards such as MTConnect make it easier for robots and inspection equipment to work as one cell.

For decades, the coordinate measuring machine lived in a quiet, climate-controlled room down the hall from production. Parts were carried in on a cart, measured in a queue and sent back with a report, sometimes hours later.

As automated cells take on more of the machining work, that walk to the lab is starting to look like the slowest step in the process.

Bringing inspection to the cell does not always require a brand-new machine. Many shops start with refurbished used CMM equipment, and CMMXYZ, an independent measurement solutions provider based in Mississauga, Ontario, restores each unit through a 31-point inspection and completes final calibration on the customer’s own floor. [Read more…] about Why Automated Cells Are Pulling Inspection Onto the Shop Floor