Based in a 4,000 m², high-tech manufacturing and administration facility in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, the company employs more than 130 people. Reflecting the global reputation of Solartron’s products, the company has sales offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia, in addition to a chain of distributors in over 30 countries. Such is the international popularity of the company’s products, approximately 90% of its output is currently exported.
Owing to the robust yet accurate nature of Solartron Metrology’s products, they are ideal for use within the laboratory, on the shop floor, in the field, or within any situation where precise, consistent linear measurements are critical. The company’s products are used throughout the world in areas such as quality control, test and measurement and machine control. Industries served include the global automotive, electronics, aerospace, materials, optics and semiconductor sectors.
Central to Solartron Metrology’s success is the excellent reputation the company enjoys for the high quality of its products. To uphold this hard won reputation, and to ensure optimum product performance within the field, the company operates a painstaking quality control regime. Investment in the best possible quality control equipment ensures that Solartron Metrology is able to undertake the most meticulous in-process and final inspection checks.
A recent requirement for an extremely accurate, non-contact measuring device prompted Solartron’s Quality Manager, Terry Everett to embark upon a web-search that would help him formulate a short list of suitable instruments and providers. Having compiled a list of the most applicable non-contact measuring machine manufacturers, a series of demonstrations of measuring machines that could meet the required high specifications was organised. Describing his quest, Terry Everett said
“As we manufacture an extremely wide range of products and associated components, most of which have very exacting dimensional specifications, we needed to locate a very precise, extremely flexible measuring machine. Also, as many of our parts are able to be deflected by conventional tactile measuring devices, we needed to find a very precise, non-contact gauging solution.”
“To ensure that we invested in the most suitable option we invited several leading metrology companies to demonstrate their high specification, non-contact measuring machines to the staff in our Quality Department. On viewing each machine’s performance, the general consensus was that the CNC version of Baty International’s Venture Vision System represented the best available product, at a very cost effective price. Now in regular use, our new Baty vision measuring system is proving extremely useful for undertaking not only the rapid and accurate measurement of a multitude of one-off parts, but also for the precise measurement of multiple parts using the machine’s convenient and speedy CNC mode. As the CNC version of Baty International’s Venture Vision System uses intuitive software, our operators became very proficient after a relatively short training period. We are now reaping the many benefits of using this very flexible Baty machine.”
Boasting a robust mechanical design and optional measuring capacities, Baty’s Venture Vision System range boasts many advanced features, including an integrated mount, suitable for the fitting of a standard Renishaw TP20 touch probe and Baty’s new, fully programmable white LED surface lighting system. An automatic video edge detection facility with circle, arc, line, point-tools together with a free form scanning tool, enables the capture of thousands of data points in seconds. The Venture uses a high resolution USB2 CCD camera that provides a high-definition colour image, a digital zoom facility and sharp image capture capability for professional reporting. A premium 6.5:1 CNC zoom lens allows the automatic selection of the optimum magnification for each featured part, whilst Z axis measurement is performed in auto-focus mode.
Venture’s smart Fusion software gives a best-fit comparison to DXF files, providing an instantaneous pass/fail judgement for complex shapes. A bi-product of a Venture measuring routine is that a fully dimensioned drawing of the measured part is produced automatically. Easy to use, SPC analysis, including graphic control charts, is also included within the Venture’s user friendly software package.