Why Many Companies Are Choosing to Retrofit Their Existing CMMs Rather than Purchasing New By Don Ward There are three primary reasons as to why CMM users retrofit their existing machines. Often, these same reasons are used to justify purchasing a second machine or replacing the current machine. Individually or in combination these reasons can make a powerful justification to upgrading a CMM. Support or Obsolescence: The CMM industry has gone through a revolution in software, CMM control and probing technology. As they gear up to support newer products, OEMs and other companies reduce or eliminate support for older existing products. This is done through staff reassignment, staff elimination, price increases and outsourcing support for a product. Certain technologies have become obsolete and parts can no longer be obtained. Inevitably, the knowledge base and parts necessary to maintain an acceptable level of performance on a machine dwindle and disappear. While the machine is still able to mechanically perform as the customer desires, the ability to maintain the product is no longer there. New Requirements: A typical CMM is purchased against a justification of a single requirement, or a few measurement requirements. Over time, these requirements maybe eliminated, modified or replaced as the customer moves forward with product development (or addresses a new market). Your customers may also change how they want to receive or provide information - prints are replaced by CAD files, statistical evaluation becomes important, compound angles need to be measured and part materials change. In general, a product or requirement has evolved or changed so that the existing machine can only support the measuring needs through extensive off-line (off-machine), follow-up work; multiple set ups or through additional pre or post-measurement CMM operations. Cost Reduction/Efficiency: We are all looking for ways to improve our bottom line: the ability to generate programs from CAD files, the ability to provide simple user interfaces to allow machine operators to check parts in a production phase, the ability to automate the measurement and the ability to provide real-time measurement statistics. All of the above can improve efficiency, thus reducing the cost of CMM operation. Overall measuring speeds can be improved through the use of digital technology. Machine acceleration and deceleration (ramping function) can be fine-tuned, measurement probe paths can be improved and computer waiting time can be reduced, sometimes improvin    g machine measurement throughput by as much as 80%. Another factor in the cost equation is support. Many OEM equipment manufactures have turned to the CMM "aftermarket" for increasing their revenues. Basic parts and service costs for new CMMs have risen, the cost of on-going calibration has risen, travel and training costs are going up and software maintenance contracts and software version updates are by no means free! In addition (and understandably), OEMs strive to "lock out" less expensive, local service providers through "software locks." The Solution: Metrology Support Group provides answers to all of these concerns through its CMM retrofit offerings. We use non-proprietary touch probes for our retrofits - and the Renishaw UCC1 Controller. This provides a neutral solution for the customer in terms of both support and cost control. The customer has the option to use any service provider in the future. In addition:   •   Renishaw's reliability and backing gives the customer assurance against product        obsolescence.   •   The use of Renishaw probes diminishes the probability of probing and software        obsolescence.   •   Renishaw UCC1 controller is "software neutral" thus allowing the customer to        change software if required. We offer multiple software packages to best fit the customer's needs. We are small enough to be concerned about cost control and customer service, but large enough to provide the latest in technology. As a word of caution, accuracy improvement should NOT be a primary driving force in the decision to retrofit a CMM. Most of the system accuracy is derived from the physics of the basic components of the CMM - so for the most part, retrofits and upgrades do not change the accuracy of the basic mechanical unit. Although software compensation tables can be used to enhance the accuracy on already accurate machines or previously compensated machines, accuracy improvement should be looked at as a bonus to the upgrade (if and when it is obtained) as a result of the retrofit. Don Ward Metrology Support Group Comment on this article