Looking to make inspection faster for part with over 100 dimensions.

[Hybrid]

I have a customer that requires a final inspection report with each shipment. This part has over 100 dimensions which takes us a long time to do. Sometimes it can take the entire day just to finish this final inspection report and lately this has caused us to ship the part out late.


Any ideas on how to make this work better?

 

[ScottK]

I have a customer that requires a final inspection report with each shipment. This part has over 100 dimensions which takes us a long time to do. Sometimes it can take the entire day just to finish this final inspection report and lately this has caused us to ship the part out late.


Any ideas on how to make this work better?

We'll need a lot more details to be able to make recommendations... like what is the part? What are your manufacturing methods for this part? what inspection methods and tools are currently being used? Is there budget for automation?
But the first question is: Does planning allow time for this inspection in their schedule and has the issue been communicated to them?

 

[Randy]

Seriously? Probably nothing that'll help except to start your day earlier.

Is everything all inclusive in your contract or is there "fudge factor" built in?

 

[optomist1]

echoing above, details, details are needed. Is this a pure mechanical or electrical part, or a combo?

Optomist1

 

[Michael_M]

If this is manufacturing, I would look for something that automates the system. For example, I use a CMM that reduces a 2-3 hour inspection to a 6 minute program that requires another 2 minutes to import the dimensions into excel (thanks to Excel Macros). As other above have stated, what is being inspected? Is it purely dimensional inspection or are there weird things like 'color' comparisons. There are many options to automate inspections but there is a definite cost (the CMM I have was $55,000 for full automation--and I still have to write the program once).

 

[Bev D]

There is some great feedback here. After dealing with this very issue in multiple industries over 40 years I can say that you (or more likely your management) are barking up the wrong tree. In summary and support:
1. The last inspection or test step that cannot be completed in time is almost never the reason a ship date is missed. The reason usually lies upstream and the parts get to the inspection step too late to be completed in the remaining time. Blaming the inspection step is like blaming the cop who wrote you a speeding ticket for being late to work. Think about it.
1a. The immediate solution is to plan for more time.
1b. You really should look at upstream processes and find the best areas to speed up those steps in some way, look for the bottle neck. Read “The Goal”. Study the TPS method of line balancing to help your planning and mfg engineering to better meet your ship date.
2. The only reliable way to speed up the inspection step is to automate it and the record. Michael M. Is correct.
3. You might discuss the need for every characteristic to be measured and recorded with the Customer but this rarely helps especially if you come across as whining about it. If you don’t have some plan to do 1 and/or 2 your customer will perceive this as whining. Been there, done that.
4. Next time ensure that your contract review process understands the requirements, planning allows the necessary time and management allocates the appropriate the resources to perform the inspection properly and efficiently.

 

[Ridgely]

Greetings. New to the forum but wanted to chime-in as we're often faced with the same dilemma.

We design and manufacture our own product and as well do periodic job shop work and in trying to reduce inspection time, we purchased a 2D scanner for our flat sheet metal parts which has served us well but moving to a 2D/3D scanning system that will verify the part against the model geometry for both sheet and milled parts and report using various reporting standards in support of our documentation needs. While may or may not be an option as potentially cost prohibitive, it will serve us well and also allows our engineers to scan buy items to be incorporated into their designs so yet another benefit. Reverse engineering of PCBA's, power supplies, etc can take considerable time so the benefits are increasingly apparent.

Offering an option for consideration as I too have had to look for faster ways to inspect and with the loss over the years of talent, I'm left to leverage technology. The brain drain in real and feeling it everyday as good folks are hard to find.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Ridgely]

If this is manufacturing, I would look for something that automates the system. For example, I use a CMM that reduces a 2-3 hour inspection to a 6 minute program that requires another 2 minutes to import the dimensions into excel (thanks to Excel Macros). As other above have stated, what is being inspected? Is it purely dimensional inspection or are there weird things like 'color' comparisons. There are many options to automate inspections but there is a definite cost (the CMM I have was $55,000 for full automation--and I still have to write the program once).

Thank you for sharing. Would you mind sharing the make and model of your CMM? Very curious.

 

[Michael_M]

I use a Helmel Phoenix Model 216-142 DCC CMM. I have no afflation with Helmel but the main reason(s) I went with this company are price and support. When I have a question, it gets answered by a live person within a very reasonable time (and it is made in the USA which is a plus for me personally).

 

[Ridgely]

Thank you for the info. Answered by a live person! What the!?!? That alone is huge.