Benham Precision| Speed, accuracy, repeatability: Optical measurement revolutionises production.
Nearly all of our business is directly into aerospace or defence sectors.
Typically, we manufacture manifolds, bodies, cases, lots of castings.
We decided to make the investment into our first VICIVISION machine and we’ve subsequently go on to purchase a further two machines, so across our two facilities we are running three VICIVISION machines.
And what the Vici has provided as a non-contact measurement solution is a reliable, repeatable, accurate measurement facility for a number of our parts.
As a supplier of medium to high complexity components, we do work down to sub-10 micron tolerances on our machine tools, and we’re able to reliably repeat those processes using the equipment around us and the technology to verify what we’re doing.
Speed, repeatability and accuracy were obviously three things that we were looking for as a business.
It has completely revolutionised the way that we go about inspecting parts within Benham.
The Vici, since it’s been within the business has become evident as a tool for reducing different methods of verification.
So, previously where we would be utilising micrometres, height gauges and shadowgraphs to check components, now we’re capturing all of that within 30 seconds to a minute on the VICIVISION.
The benefits were definitely immediate.
We could see from the first moment that we utilised the machine within the department, the rate that we were inspecting work at increased rapidly.
I’d consider that through having the VICIVISION machines within the business, we have definitely seen reduced lead times to our customers, which has given us an advantage over other business within the sector, in terms of enabling us to get product to our customer, to their lines, quickly and efficiently.
Obviously, on-time delivery to our customers is absolutely essential, as well as the quality of the parts.
We need to make sure that our customers are able to satisfy their demand requirements, but also maintaining the fact that a lot of our product is critical to flight, critical to safety, and therefore the quality needs to be absolutely 100% correct.
We use them as production aids and going forward we are looking to use the Prolink software in conjunction with the VICI so that we have real time data for operators at their workstation.
The future looks very promising for Benhams as we continue to invest in technology, people and processes.
As a business we want to very much focus on productivity through technology and the use of optical measurement equipment to assist in that, we believe will be a key part.
Having seen the capability of the equipment, we knew that it was a sound investment for Benham as a business and we knew that the investment that we would make would be paid back.
It’s enabled the business to move forward and up another level.
Joe Benham
Managing Director of Benham
Article of the official Vici & C. dealer: VICIVISION UK