Renishaw Equator taken Kishan Auto to another level

March 11, 2014 4:56 am

Gauging time and costs cut by 80 per cent and accuracy maintained despite a 21 C range
Kishan Auto parts Pvt. Ltd. is one of the world leaders in manufacture of connecting rods in car, compressor, heavy commercial vehicle, tractor, marine engine and earth mover manufacturing industries. Kishan recently purchased a Renishaw Equator flexible gauging comparator and has seen an immediate reduction in cost and gauging cycle times of more than 80 per cent.
Additionally, despite shop floor temperature variations of more than 21 C, measuring performance has been unaffected due to Equator’s unique comparator method which uses master parts calibrated on Kishan’s co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM).
Versatile gauging on the shop floorKishan Auto is now using Equator to gauge multiple variants of connecting rods and adding more every day. Typical gauging times of 55 seconds per connecting rod are a significant reduction over previous methods. The operators can use one Equator machine for many different parts, gauging all the features in a single operation with an immediate pass/fail decision, along with a report of the component dimensions.
Despite its location in Rajkot, Gujarat, where temperatures soar to 40 C and drop to 19 C, Kishan is seeing repeatable results from its Equator system. This is achieved by remastering at least every 3 hours, or when they know the temperature has changed significantly – ‘re-zeroing’ the system removes the effect of thermal growth from the measurements, and therefore guarantees component quality.
The master part must be kept close to the machine and subject to the same thermal conditions as the production parts. If at any time the ambient temperature changes rapidly and a part goes out of tolerance, an operator can measure the master part to re-set the system, and check the reported ‘fail’ is not due to the environment.
Traceability and extra capacityThe master parts are ‘calibrated’ on Kishan’s CMM, which gives them the traceable accuracy they rely on to guarantee quality. However, the high thermal variation means that the CMM has to be used within the company’s temperature-controlled room. Equator gives Kishan the opportunity to extend the certified accuracy to the shop floor whatever the conditions. For this requirement, Equator has removed the need to purchase an additional CMM with scanning capability. “Essentially Equator and the CMM complement each other perfectly — one providing the traceable certified accuracy, the other providing the thermal capability and extra capacity,” explains Shantibhai Changela, Managing Director, Kishan Auto.

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