Delcam's PowerINSPECT Orbits Saturn Quality Procedures
Delcam's PowerINSPECT
On Jan. 7, 1985, a nascent
automobile company began its quest to build high-quality
cars complicit with an Occam's razor approach to labor and
business issues. Following its celebrated birth, Saturn
Corp. quickly began producing the quality automobiles that
General Motors executives and engineers had imagined in
1982. More than two decades later, Saturn's dedication to
quality and strict adherence to production control specifications
remain pillars of the company's business plan.
As the first line of defense against collisions and the
elements, vehicle body panels are manufactured in accordance
with stringent specifications. Slight abnormalities, incorrect
measurements and welding flaws are not only unacceptable
at Saturn, but they're also under attack.
Saturn's weapon of choice is Delcam's PowerINSPECT, an
integrated inspection package for use with 3-D coordinate
measuring machines and inspection arms.
PowerINSPECT allows operators at Saturn to inspect complex
machined parts and compare them with the original CAD models,
producing customized reports in tabular, graphical and pictorial
formats.
The portable CMMs are used to check relationships among
parts when clamped into a tool for welding. "We rely
greatly on these systems to check part surfaces against
their CAD models," says Dave Shutte, inspection technician
for the underbody resource team. "We also check weld-assembly
tools after they're installed, as needed." Much of
the precision maintained by the Saturn technicians would
be impossible without the technology afforded them by the
portable CMMs and PowerINSPECT software. "The most
important thing is the flexibility of being able to use
the systems anywhere and to measure anything," says
Shutte. "Reaching inside, behind and underneath can
usually be done only with a portable CMM."
Shutte lauds PowerINSPECT for its ease of use and fast
setup, but he's most impressed by its graphic capabilities.
"It can be very difficult to get people to understand
what you mean when you just have lines of numbers for each
of a long list of points," he explains. "Power-INSPECT
shows us the CAD file with the inspection points circled
and numbered. We can print out the inspection file or e-mail
it. People can see what you're talking about." Instead
of lines of numbers and lists of points, PowerINSPECT provides
technicians at Saturn with wireframe models capable of dynamic
rotation. The comprehensive visualization rendered by Power-INSPECT
provides ample opportunity to locate and correct flaws before
the car rolls off the assembly line.
The CMM-PowerINSPECT combination lands another knockout
punch against scrap and rework time. One of the predominant
factors contributing to the amount of rework and scrap in
a factory is the time taken to repair defects. The shorter
the lag time between finding the defect and reporting it,
the fewer questionable units are produced. Saturn's effective
implementation of portable CMMs and PowerINSPECT has dramatically
minimized rework due to the immediate reaction time of the
tools and software. "A check fixture tells you if something
is fitting or where it's not, but never why," says
Bill Gilliam, framing and side quality technician. "This
system gives you all kinds of data for analysis and speeds
up the resolution of problems."
The integration of both portable CMMs and Power-INSPECT
has become an important component in both the production
of Saturn's cars and its corporate commitment to simplicity
and common sense. Indeed, finding errors and design flaws
quickly is one of the simplest, most effective ways to produce
quality automobiles with minimum scrap and waste. It's hard
to argue with the improvement at Saturn. "Statistically
speaking, we're doing significantly better since we began
using the portable CMMs and PowerINSPECT," says Frank
McMahon, body systems maintenance team leader in fabrication
maintenance.
Delcam's PowerINSPECT
- 3-D inspection at all production stages
- Multiple report-production options
- Six standard, two isometric and one user-definable view
www.delcam.com
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