‘Quality’ in manufacturing has become synonymous with inspection. At one time, the word would have meant exclusively dimensional inspection; more recently, the definition has broadened to include inspection of any physical attributes of a manufactured component.
But ‘quality’ can be about far more than measured characteristics. To the consumer, quality is always relative to expectations. Products may be judged against the competition, or against the perception that the buyer had of whatthey were getting. So how can we define quality to accommodate all these ideas?
In its broadest sense, quality is the comparison between ‘what is’ and ‘what should be’. If a consumer feels that the reality falls short of expectations, then they will inevitably feel disappointed at the ‘poor quality’ they perceive. Within production, if a CAD drawing represents how a product ‘should be’ then metrology is used to discover how a product actually ‘is’ after it has been manufactured. ‘Quality’ is a measure of the difference between the two.
When we consider the potential of quality data using this definition, we acknowledge that products created in the real world today are different to the ‘ideal’ product that exists in the virtual world. But by comparing the two, we gain the ability to adjust and optimise the production process to bring the real-world product closer to the design intent. In the virtual world, we can track and simulate every step of the product lifecycle from design and engineering, through manufacturing and even into the product’s service life. And, using metrology as the bridge between the physical and virtual, we can observe the same steps in the real world to narrow the gap between what is and what should be. As this gap reduces, manufacturers gain the confidence they need to work faster without the risk of producing poor quality parts.
Quality data is your lifeline to high standards and high throughput. With Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence solutions, you can work with super speed and confidence – in the reliability of your processes and quality of your products – every step of the way.
