Seeing the future of measurement at MPC with OPMM

Forward-thinking, class-leading practices and technologies are a cornerstone of the success and development at Molded Precision Components (MPC). Not to be underestimated in its challenges, it is all very well being able to make precision plastic moulded parts, but unless you can verify that your part and its 70M moulded companions meet the customer specifications, you are probably wasting your time! That’s why seeing the future of measurement technology is one key aspect of focus at MPC.

Like most areas of manufacturing today, the technologies associated to measurement of complex parts, such as suspension bearings that are buried deep in a vehicle’s suspension assembly and literally carry the load of your vehicle; or complex micro gears that transmit motion in critical motion applications, the need for consistent production and measurement accuracy at sub-micron levels is more and more important. It is also a differentiator for the few companies that can deliver this level of service.

One of the now well-established technologies is CMM – a Co-ordinate Measuring Machine.  Like all products and systems there is a range of capability, the choice really being how much do you want to invest in the capability and the expertise to operate it. In 2018, MPC implemented the Mitutoyo Stratos 700, a class leading CMM system which has proved its value time and time again, already exceeding the capabilities of many companies with significantly higher revenues and resources.

“Our challenge with that CMM is that although without question accurate, the equipment measures only the points that you ask it to, recording that data in a format that needs further analysis and interpretation to fully realize its value.” Said Justin Morton, the lead Mechanical Design Engineer at MPC; “Fortunately, we have that capability within our team, but likewise we found that we already needed to do even more accurate and comprehensive analysis… and we needed to do it faster”

To achieve this Molded Precision Components has just invested close to $250,000 in the latest Optical Precision Measuring Machine (OPMM) equipment from gom; the ATOS Capsule This class of equipment uses both Triple Scan and Blue Light Technology not only exceeding the measuring accuracy of the CMM, but scanning in 3D to analyze the complete part in just a fraction of the time that the CMM equipment would take to measure in less detail.  

“ATOS is an optical 3D co-ordinate measuring system allowing non-contact measurements of complete surfaces of prototypes, electrodes, tools and injection moulded parts regardless of the object size, capturing complex freeform contours quickly and completely. Source: https://www.gom.com/industries/injection-molding.html

In addition, the 3D outputs from the ATOS Capsule are compatible and can be interpreted directly within the design files used to develop the mold tooling and the parts themselves. “This is an incredible piece of equipment and we are looking forward to putting it to work for our customers, improving not only the accuracy of their parts, but doing it more quickly to deliver reduced time to market for time-sensitive projects” Commented David Yeaman , co-owner and President.

Bottom line…OPMM is bringing MPC greater accuracy, faster and with less resource, complementing their already developed capabilities in CMM and in-house mold flow analysis. The team at MPC are truly seeing the future of measurement technology first-hand. Just one element of continuous improvement, innovation and expertise all bundled into one… and that’s just a scratch on the surface (Yes… MPC can measure it in 3d!). Learn more about their capabilities at https://www.mpccomponents.com/our-capabilities/

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