AmannGirrbach AG uses coordinate measuring technology from Carl Zeiss
Skilled craftsmanship is vital in a dental lab. High-quality materials and precision down to the last detail contribute to health and quality of life. The latest manufacturing techniques guarantee high quality. To ensure this quality, AmannGirrbach offers 500 articles for dental technology ranging from an articulator to a chewing motion simulator to consumables.
A highly precise dental prosthetic, for which finishing and reworking can be clearly reduced, is more important than ever in dentistry. Highly precise production of the equipment used to make models is vital to ensuring that dental prosthetics fit properly. Therefore, very exact measurements are required to check the quality of the finished parts. In addition to a CONTURA® G2 coordinate measuring machine, AmannGirrbach utilizes an O-INSPECT multisensor measuring machine for optical and contact measurements to provide its customers with high-quality products.
Optimizing quality assurance
Changes to the portfolio, increasingly narrowing tolerances and a rising number of freeform surfaces required new approaches in quality assurance. AmannGirrbach quickly recognized that quality assurance is more than something they had to do. The implementation of a CAQ system (computer-aided quality) also demanded the implementation of reproducible processes. Here, in-depth quality assurance of the finished parts is vital. Mario Fröhle, Head of Quality Assurance at AmannGirrbach, emphasizes that “quality assurance shortens and optimizes the manufacturing process, but should not be solely the task of the QA employee. The ease of use of ZEISS coordinate measuring machines is a key element. Inspection has thus become part of everyday work.”
Coordinate measuring machines in quality assurance have considerably shortened the inspection process and lowered the number of rejects. Workpieces which required 10 minutes to inspect in the past can now be checked in around three minutes in a CNC run. However, not only measuring time reduction, but also the increasing number of form and position tolerances demanded flexible methods in quality assurance. This is where the benefits of scanning technology from Carl Zeiss become evident. They enable the evaluation of linear tolerances, and form and position tolerances in a single measurement. Low quantities and different parts demand frequent changes to the setup of the machines. Here, it is particularly important to have a measuring system comprising a coordinate measuring machine and measuring software that quickly and reliably provides the machine operator with correction values.
CALYPSO for contact and optical measuring
With CALYPSO®, the quality of the parts can be checked on both the CONTURA G2 contact coordinate measuring machine and the O-INSPECT optical-contact coordinate measuring machine. Operators always use the same interface regardless of the measuring machine or workpiece.
