Nobody gets past security

At first glance, a car lock seems like a trivial thing – a slot for a key that requires a simple turning action to activate. Bettina Brandt, global laboratory manager for automotive lock supplier Kiekert AG, puts things in a bit more perspective.

“A lock is quite comparable to a Swiss watch. Between 70 and 125 individual parts interlock with and engage one another,” Brandt says. “Deviations in the hundredths of a millimeter range in a single part can result in lock malfunction.”

With such tight tolerances, even minor flaws can lead to part malfunctions. Ultimately, every Kiekert lock has to operate reliably, so the company has some of the highest quality standards in the automotive industry.

With no margin for error for quality in incoming parts, the company recently implemented an inspection system to test all supplies – the Optiv Classic 321 GL multi-sensor measuring system from Hexagon Metrology. This scalable system enables Kiekert to keep up with the dynamics of the automotive market and its frequent model changes. The multi-sensor measurement technology also enables precision measurements of small features that cannot always be measured with conventional systems.
 

Virtual bouncer

Just as night club doormen mercilessly decide who can enter a hot spot and who cannot, the Optiv Classic multi-sensor measurement system performs the same function at Kiekert. Stationed at the incoming goods department, these devices are used to check vendor parts and issue a “go” or “no-go.”

The standardized system replaces what had been a varied approach.

Until 2012, each of Kiekert’s plants used its own methodology for testing and accepting inbound parts. A factory in Mexico, for example, produced expensive, type-bound gauge sets for each vendor part. However, the scale of incoming inspection called for a more sophisticated approach.

Kiekert’s complex supply flow includes 350 suppliers providing it with 5,000 different parts – mainly precision-punched parts and injection-molded parts made of plastic. Kiekert’s largest plant in the Czech Republic receives 1 million individual parts on a daily basis. How do you get a handle on this kind of nearly inconceivable flow of goods?

Klaus Hense, senior manager of global supplier quality, explains, “We conduct quality planning in advance with our suppliers, carry out audits, and have put best practices in place. Without a filter in our incoming goods department, there would always be a risk of a defective part slipping through. We continuously develop and refine our incoming goods inspection to keep it up to date.”

Since 2012, Kiekert has used the Hexagon Metrology system globally for a uniform measuring, documenting, and assessable solution.
 

Multi-sensory approach

The versatile Optiv system combines vision and touch-probe inspection into a single metrology platform. The user can configure a machine from building-block component configurations including high-resolution cameras, through-the-lens (TTL) lasers, white light scanning sensors, analog scanning sensors, and touch-trigger probes. Since the device is camera-based, the vision measuring methodology is determined by the live image.

The system measures the image it sees, pixel by pixel, using a very high magnification lens and interpretation algorithms to analyze the image. Used for a wide variety of dimensional verification tasks, the CMM supports on-demand coordinate checks on parts, part programming on or off the machine, and reverse-engineering applications.

All Kiekert factories have been outfitted with identical CNC-controlled, 3D measuring machines to ensure their measuring strategy is implemented the same way at all production facilities. Measuring programs can be exchanged between factories, where only the user interface needs to be adapted to the respective local languages. At the same time, the devices serve as a quasi-early warning system; Kiekert can detect right away if the parts are in spec or if measures need to be taken, enabling dialogue with suppliers immediately and implementing measures in a targeted way.

Driving the CMM is a vision module of Hexagon’s PC-DMIS dimensional metrology software – used for the collection, evaluation, management, and presentation of manufacturing data. The software incorporates advanced tools to develop, debug, and execute measurement routines. Instructions and visuals can be included in the PC-DMIS part programs to make it simple for operators to correctly load and measure their components.

Brandt explains, “When selecting a measuring system, it was especially important to us that users are able to operate the device without having any specialized knowledge in the area. It should be as easy to operate as a gage.”

This approach is reflected in the user interface of the PC-DMIS Vision software. It is designed to guide the user step-by-step through the measurement process.

Photographs help operators visualize how parts have to be clamped on the measuring device, for example. In addition, the Optiv Classic devices integrate a bar code scanner, so the operators can scan the code of the incoming part, and the appropriate measuring program starts up automatically.
 

Inspection and analysis

Measurement data can be easily exported into Excel files for further analysis, making the inspection results comparable and transparent. When measurement results fall outside the associated tolerance range for a part, a warning system immediately sends a notice to the responsible quality personnel for complaint processing.

The universal incoming goods inspection concept was recently exported to Russia, where Kiekert’s newest factory began production in late 2014.

“The potential of the Optiv measurement machine exceeds the functionality of a gage. They can be expanded with tactile and optical sensors, for example,” Hense says. “With the new location up and running, We‘ll use the devices in Russia for initial sampling and problem analysis, in addition to incoming goods inspection.”

The doormen at Kiekert consistently rise to the occasion. Their job remains the same: ensure secure locks, in every Kiekert factory, in any situation.

Hexagon Metrology
www.hexagonmetrology.us