Quality Control

A look at portable measurement technologies and their applications.

Bringing inspection technology to the shop floor for quality control can pay big dividends.

How microscopes and vision systems are used in machine shops for noncontact inspection and measurement.

END USER: Mitchel & Scott Machine Co., (317) 684-8247, www.mitchelgroup.com. CHALLENGE: Provide 100 percent inspection of internal thread pitch and depth and numerous external dimensions for two high-volume automotive parts. SOLUTION: Automated vision inspection and thread verification systems. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Compass Automation, (847) 426-6696, www.compass-automation.com

More shops and builders are remotely monitoring machine tools, which quickens maintenance and repair.

An industry veteran examines the top 10 issues for maintaining and enhancing quality control in parts manufacturing.

Look Ahead features an on-demand, integrated adaptive control

The Look Ahead column features an economical "structured-light" scanner for inspecting parts.

One of the Look Ahead items in the September issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine features a robotic fiber laser machine without a working optical fiber in which the laser beam is integrated in the robot.

A second item in the Look Ahead section of the October 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine covers an automatic, scalable component-testing system that combines acoustic and functional testing.