Shop Talk

IMTS proves useful for many sectors, including shop owners

With IMTS fully wrapped up (see last week's newsletter for our photo spread, and look for our full show report in the upcoming November issue of EA), showrunners AMT (Association for Manufacturing Technology) released their recap today. It featured a cross-section of industries, including shop owners, who gave positive feedback to the association. For example, Mike Payne, president of Hill Manufacturing & Fabrication, said, “You have to come to IMTS because you need to know where your shop is going to be in a couple of years.”

Payne focuses on finding efficiencies with ERP systems such as Datanomix, a provider of production monitoring software that launched three solutions at IMTS. “Datanomix lets me make data-driven decisions that have an immediate impact on our company.”

“I got a lot out of IMTS this year,” said Chris Basgall, CEO of Catamount Machine Works, an AS9100-certified and ITAR-registered machine shop. “During the show, I met with Haas, High QA, and Verisurf Software representatives. It turns out we can upgrade an existing CMM to Verisurf, which will help us save more than $50,000. In addition, my team will be working with the three parties to integrate the systems with a new product, where the Haas CNC mills will capture inspection data, transfer it in real time to Verisurf and then to High QA to bring even more automation to our process. This will improve our quality, reduce labor, and drive profitability.”

Hexagon launched the Leica Absolute Tracker ATS800 at IMTS, which delivers accurate measurements of key features of large parts from a distance, as well as Metrology Mentor, an SaaS (software as a service) application designed to automate the creation of measurement programs.

“The new technology in the booth is unreal, and the new Leica Absolute Tracker ATS800 is going to change the metrology game,” said Christopher Ryan, a quality assurance specialist at Intralox.