Precision engineering, by definition, requires the completed part to match the design drawings precisely. If the part is out it won’t work properly in the final product. That means re-working and delays!
At Axis, our full time Quality Manager, John Walters, is on hand to ensure sufficient quality control throughout a project. We pride ourselves on a quality service from start to finish. Without quality control checks performed during manufacture the finished parts are unlikely to be of the requisite standard.
We don’t like that… because we know you won’t like it.
This blog post outlines an example of how well-planned quality control saved a recent project.
Quality Control Checks – why your parts will never need re-working
Axis Precision Engineering Components care passionately about the work we produce for our clients and never want you to re-work a part we’ve manufactured. And when we say never, we really do mean never!
With many years engineering experience, Axis prioritise quality control and always build in first off inspections etc. specific to each project.
Quality control can save the day in two ways:
- you get your components engineered to the quality you need
- we finish the project without undue waste
Mistakes will happen, it’s a risk in any project. But that risk is mitigated by careful quality control planning so errors are picked up as early in the process as possible and alterations can be made – keeping waste to a minimum.
You do need the equipment
Obviously, precision quality control checks cannot be done by eye, which is why Axis have quality control machines that are all temperature controlled and fully calibrated. These include…
- Hexagon CNC Co-ordinate Measuring Machine, utilising the latest PC-DMIS software
- Tesa Micro-Hite 350
- Trimos Height Gauge
As precision engineering needs the right equipment, such as our DMG 5 axis machines, so quality control needs the right equipment too.
When quality control fails… quality control checks win!
First-off inspection prevents a fault affecting an entire batch. But if quality checks through the manufacturing process fail to find a fault the final quality inspection will pick up the problem. Changes can be made to the programming if necessary and/or we can re-work parts in-house BEFORE delivery.
In the second scenario we can re-work the part so you don’t have to. That final inspection is critical and can save us money in waste and you, the client, wasted time waiting for delivery or re-working faulty components!
The image shows a mismatch in cutter parts, picked up on first off inspection checking – tool heads were adjusted to improve the blend. So the issue was fixed before running the entire batch. A project saved by careful quality control, hurray!
You can download our case study – Reinventing the Wheel – which highlights another example where quality control checks prevented unnecessary waste due to back end defects.
Quality control changes
As mentioned the quality control specifics are defined by the project requirements. There’s no such thing as universal quality control checking…
If your current supplier is fudging quality control you will know about it. If you’ve ever had to re-work finished parts then there’s something up. It’s a false economy – the cheap option is often the wrong choice.
This is one reason why it might be time to switch to a more reliable supplier. If you’re having doubts about your current supplier’s suitability for your more complicated projects, give us a call.