Hexagon Brings Lights-Out Quality Control to the Manufacturing Floor

The Tempo System automates the quality control process.

(Image courtesy of Hexagon.)

(Image courtesy of Hexagon.)

Aerospace part manufacturer Alloy Specialties has become one of the first companies to adopt Hexagon’s new Tempo robotic quality control technology—a “lights-out” solution that allows companies to automate their quality control processes.

The Tempo is an automated part loading system that allows operators to queue several inspection jobs and isolate rejected parts. And the system is easy enough to use that its coordinate measuring machine (CMM) can be operated by pretty much anyone on the factory floor.

Hexagon demonstrates its Tempo System.

“We are running one aerospace part exclusively on the Tempo system twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” said Dawn M. DiMauro, president of Alloy Specialties. “As a result, we have seen significant impact in reducing our backlog, increasing capacity, and freeing up other CMMs.”

By deploying Tempo, the aerospace company has been able to extend production time into the small hours of the night. This has allowed skilled workers and other CMM machines to focus on other tasks during the workday, increasing their efficiency and productivity.

Conventional quality control work has traditionally been performed either directly on the shop floor by a technician using a dedicated gauge to measure each part, or by taking each part aside into a controlled environment where a specialist uses a CMM or similar measuring device to ensure it’s up to snuff.

But demand for high-quality parts, produced as fast as possible, is only increasing—causing many manufacturers to look at automation solutions for the sometimes time- and labor-consuming quality control process. An automated system like Tempo allows for changes to be made to the assembly line using real-time data and for staff and machinery to take on other important tasks, and it can improve worker safety and reduce errors.

The Tempo enables the company to deploy “lights-out” practices: an approach to manufacturing that is heavily robot-centric, with minimal human supervision—in essence, it’s able to operate autonomously, with the lights turned off. The Tempo system could run its quality control processes at off-work hours when most workers have gone home.

The Tempo solution is an addition to Hexagon products that aims to provide automated quality control technologies to companies that don’t want a large-scale investment and an extensive and disruptive overhaul of their processes. Companies have found that making incremental investments helps them meet current demands while setting them up for successful broader transformations down the road.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges for manufacturers—forcing them to stagger shifts or reduce the numbers of employees on site at a given time. Automating the quality control function would help provide these companies much-needed flexibility in deploying their skilled workers.

For its part, Alloy Specialties is pleased enough with the system that it intends to add an additional Tempo system this year, taking another significant step forward in incorporating additive manufacturing technologies into its production processes.

Read more about the lights-out factory at Manufacturing in America: Where Are the Robots?