Advanced Off-line Inspection Software Speeds Up Manufacturing and Assembly for Aerospace Giant

July 22, 2009, ANAHEIM, CA – Developing and refining the advanced processes for its manufacturing and assembly operation is no small task for Irvine, California-based Coast Composites, Inc. That’s why when the company went looking for the next generation of technology, it went to a company known to think “big”, Verisurf Software Inc.

“Some of the high-precision tooling we produce for customers is really huge, up to 100-feet long," said Steve Anthony, Coast Composites IT manager. Size creates its own set of challenges and opportunities, and has also led Coast to its recent plant expansion from 85,000 sq. feet to over 200,000. Anthony explained, “When you build huge tooling you need lots of room.”

Even though the molds it produces are extremely large (typically 2 to 60 feet long), Coast still must meet precise tolerance requirements to satisfy its customers’ specifications. “We’re talking fine finishes and tolerances of four to five thou over a 50-60-foot length,” Anthony explained. “And, like any other QC requirement, we have to be able to prove to our customers that we have met or exceeded their specs. To do that has taken us into some interesting new technologies.”

Originally, company QC was accomplished using probes on their mills. “The problem was probing tied up our machines,” explained Anthony. “We did in-process inspection, then pulled the parts off to do final assembly. Then we had to put the assembly back on the machine to do final inspection. That was time consuming. We needed a better way to do it.” That better way turned out to be portable CMMs.

“In a regular job shop, when a part is machined, you either check it on machine using probing or you take it to a CMM somewhere,” he explained. “In our case, though, the parts are just too big to move. So, we long ago figured out we had to bring the CMM to the parts. So, when the technology for portable CMMs became available, we jumped on it.”

After investing in early generation portable laser tracker CMMs. Coast found the technology good but not perfect.

“Laser trackers are a great concept,” said Anthony, “because they’re fast and accurate over very long distances. But in the beginning the CAD software that drove those machines wasn’t very powerful. Today, though, that problem has mostly been solved. We’ve been using Faro laser trackers for several years, which was a major improvement over on-machine probing, but still had drawbacks in its software capabilities.”

Verisurf Technology Delivers

Real control and power came to Coast Composites’ process with the introduction of Verisurf Software. “We were approached by Verisurf which had created very specific software that had a lot of promise,” Anthony explained.

“Ernie (Verisurf President Ernie Husted) said his software was a model-based manufacturing inspection solution that could interface with nearly any measurement metrology devices, including our Faro Laser Trackers.

“We were skeptical at first but very pleased with the results,” continued Anthony. “They solved most of the problems we faced at the time. Verisurf actually sits on top of Mastercam, so it had all the import capabilities of Mastercam. Basically, when you buy Verisurf, you’re buying a seat of Mastercam, too, which provides a full suite of CAD modeling features, including solids, surfaces, wireframe and drafting, plus all the translators we needed for our customers’ CAD platforms. But the main thing was that Verisurf made those Faro arms do everything they’re mechanically capable of doing.”

“All of our customers require different reporting,” he said. “Verisurf has an HTML-based report format that you can customize. …We can give customers any kind of report they want, including raw point data. If Verisurf collects data, it can report it.”

Primer: Offline Inspection

For most of its projects, Coast receives a solid model of the component, including the critical dimensions and inspection points.

“For QA purposes, we import the model into Verisurf, and then our guys move the reflective mirror to collect all the points that have to be verified. They push a button on their pendant and Verisurf records the point. Or they can scan thousands of points to get a point cloud in a given area. Either way, Verisurf records it all and compares the data against the model. If there’s a problem, it lets the operator know immediately.”

“When you’re inspecting really huge projects, the operator can get too far from the PC monitor to read it,” says Anthony. “So Verisurf has come up with the ability to transmit the data via wireless to a PDA device. We use Dell Axims, so now the operator can look at his PDA and see what’s happening. It’s fast and very efficient.

Find More Uses

Coast also uses the Verisurf and Faro laser tracker combo during mold assembly. “The system works perfectly to help us locate points on the mold for brackets, holes, you name it,” Anthony explained. “The model tells you where it wants a hole or a part to be assembled. The operator moves the little mirror to find the exact location on the assembly. He marks the spot and he’s done. It’s that simple. It’s a fantastic time saver. No more measuring and checking the old-fashioned way.”

Coast also uses the Verisurf/Faro portable system at customer sites to help set up molds. “We use them for leveling, dimensioning, and inspection,” he said. “The whole setup consists of the Faro laser tracker and a PC on wheels. Its very portable.”

Making Offline Inspection Positive

Coast Composites has seen significant benefits since it began using Verisurf with its laser trackers. Said Anthony, “In a nutshell the offline system has made our life a lot easier. First it speeds up our manufacturing process by eliminating the need for on-machine inspection. Second it greatly speeds the mold assembly process by allowing us to quickly locate holes and components and to level the molds. Third, our customers make a lot of revisions. Verisurf can read those and give us the new data we need for checking. I really can’t put a number on our savings, but it has been significant. It can easily equate to weeks in terms of faster throughput.”

The bottom line from Coast’s perspective: “Basically, offline inspection with Verisurf and the laser tracker has allowed us to perform all the QA tasks we need to do to make our customers happy.”

Source

VERISURF Software Offers Industry Appreciation

ANAHEIM, CA – Verisurf Software, Inc. is conducting its first-ever Industry Appreciation event to help companies gain efficiency advantages during these difficult economic times. The program includes a significant trade-in credit applied to the cost of the new VERISURF X software bundle, as well as special financing terms so that companies can put the software on the job immediately with minimal capital outlay.

The seriousness of the economic situation led Verisurf, a pioneer in model-based metrology software, to offer its Industry Appreciation incentives through the end of May 2009. The program features special 50% off trade-in pricing, extended payment terms, and other incentives to help companies implement the necessary technology to maximize efficiency and speed in manufacturing.

Verisurf has built its reputation on "stepping up" to help solve day-to-day problems in the field. Company President Ernie Husted said: “We see this as a time when the commitment to real partnership in our industry has never been more important.” Verisurf has the right solution at the right time to help build and ship products faster and with fewer resources.

“New VERISURF X users tell us they see real, tangible productivity gains in their operations almost immediately,” Husted continued, “Tasks that previously took hours or days are done in minutes, saving time and money.”
Program Details


TRADE-IN 50% OFF – Trade-in your existing legacy metrology software from any software maker for the new VERISURF X suite at one-half the bundle price.

FAVORABLE PAYMENT TERMS -- Verisurf will set up extended payment terms to fit individual businesses. “This way,” Husted explained, “they can leverage the productivity and real-world benefits of the new technology before they have to pay for it in full.

For additional information, see program details at http://verisurf.com/message_to_customers.php, or

contact Verisurf at 714-879-1683 ext. 22.

Verisurf Software Helps Vought Aircraft Increase Production

April 22, 2009, ANAHEIM, CA -- Technology is changing the face of aerospace manufacturing and quality assurance. No place is that change more welcome and dramatic than at Vought Aircraft Industries, Inc. in Hawthorne, California.

According to Paul Evans, Quality Assurance Lead, changes in processes and systems at his plant alone have saved literally thousands of dollars in time and costs. “At the heart of these changes,” said Mr. Evans – a 34-year veteran with Vought – “is our adoption of Verisurf Software to run our portable CMMs.” Vought first introduced Verisurf into its Hawthorne operations in 2007 when the software was selected for what Mr. Evans called an “across the board changeover … and to prepare for the ramp up for a major model change.”

Vought offers a full range of aero-structure fabrication and assembly capabilities to design and manufacture fuselage panels, empennage and flight control surfaces, nacelles, wings and doors, and other structures. “We build some really big products, up to 60-feet in length, for some of the biggest names in the aerospace industry,” said Mr. Evans. “In a nutshell, we’re a tier 1 subcontractor to companies like Boeing, Airbus, Gulfstream, Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, Northrop Grumman, Bell Helicopter, Cessna and Embraer. As a result, everything we build has to meet stringent engineering specifications. But beyond that, we’re required to prove that we meet those customer specs. We’ve always met that challenge, but it hasn’t always been easy.”
Vought manufactures the majority of its products in sections, and then utilizes complex holding fixtures in assembly to ensure dimensional accuracy.

“Our products are very large, so the only sensible way to handle inspection is to do it in sections as they’re built,” explained Vought quality engineer Angel Diaz.

The company receives the majority of its specifications via CATIA solid models. The specs come with local and aircraft coordinates that are “stripped down” to give the product it’s own reference system. This process further speeds up inspection and analysis.

Said Mr. Evans, “On these structures our average tolerance is plus or minus thirty thousandths, which doesn’t sound like much, until you realize you’re dealing with structures up to 60-feet long. To make things worse we have to achieve those tolerances in changing temperature conditions, which can cause some pretty wild thermal expansion and contraction.”
Vought uses a combination of laser systems and portable CMMs for measurement. Laser systems measure the large structures, while portable CMMs are used for constructions that can be measured with a 6’ long arm. Before Verisurf, there were significant difficulties in analyzing inspection results and providing appropriate feedback.

Mr. Evans explained, “We’re dealing with large sheet metal assemblies, which are very flexible. In the past we would take a measurement, then come back and analyze it on a desktop computer with a couple of different software packages. Then we would see that the product was out of spec and needed to be twisted this way or that to bring it into alignment. We might have to do several iterations like that before we got it right. It was a very time consuming process.”

“Because our only proof at that point were a bunch of numbers on spread sheets, it was difficult to communicate. We really needed something that graphically illustrated the results of our analysis, and that is why we selected Verisurf Software.”

“Verisurf is a very powerful software package,” said Senior Measurement Engineer Joel Gasca. “It resides within Mastercam and uses all the power of Mastercam’s design module. The whole system comes on a disk and installs on a computer as easily as Microsoft Office. Our computers are already connected to the lasers and the CMM arms, and since Verisurf recognizes most of the portable CMMs out there, it was ready immediately to go to work with our systems.”

After more than two years on the job, clear and easy-to-understand graphics capability and instant answers continue to be the biggest benefits of Verisurf Software. The software is utilized to collect data through the laser and CMM tools and then provide analysis on the spot. It compares the real product against the solid model residing in Mastercam and gives Vought’s team instant and graphical error reports so that its customer, vendors and production specialists can see specifics.

“We’re now able to measure the product as it’s being built,” Mr. Gasca explained. “Previously we didn’t have that capability. All we could do was collect data and then go into some other room to analyze it. Now we’re able to take Verisurf down to the floor, call over the engineers and mechanics and show them exactly what’s wrong. They love it, because the longer an error goes before it’s found, the harder it is to fix.”

He continued, “I guess the bottom line for our department is that it used to take us sixteen hours to do an inspection on a large assembly, eight hours inspecting and another eight on the report. Now we can do the same job in six hours or less.”