In today’s highly competitive manufacturing environment, product quality is an absolute given. Whilst supply chains are constantly being squeezed to invest in the latest cutting edge equipment, reduce costs and improve lead-times, all of this is meaningless if the work produced is sub-standard from a quality perspective.
So it’s highly conceivable that some manufacturing companies (start-ups for example) will have the inherent need for advanced inspection equipment to verify product quality, but may not be able to justify the capital expenditure required to make a purchase themselves. There are several other scenarios: some companies may have their own equipment but need something specialised for a specific job; a skilled metrology operator may leave; there may be a machine breakdown or a business may run into capacity issues. These factors are the very essence behind the formation of Hexagon’s new Metrology Centre.
Occupying 3,000ft² of real estate within the Silverstone Park Innovation Centre located on the Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire border next to the Silverstone Formula 1 circuit, the new facility is a joint venture between Silverstone Park developer MEPC and Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence. It’s a five year project and represents a total investment of £2 million.
At the opening ceremony, Daventry MP Chris Heaton-Harris called it a ‘global-leading’ facility and few would argue. As well as being home to a wealth of Hexagon metrology equipment – from articulated arms, Leica Trackers, multi-sensor measuring systems, CMMs and leading software packages like Quindos and PC-DMIS, the Centre will also act as a hub for support, training and networking opportunities.
Mr Heaton-Harris stated: “When you get businesses like this in the heart of a thriving engineering community you become the centre of the global chatter around it. If you are a start-up or someone investing you will want to be near it or part of it. For Silverstone – for this region – the new Metrology Centre is exceptionally good news.
“Some of the work we are seeing here being done by robots and lasers means the facility looks like an operating theatre! Metrology has obviously moved on massively and I think this facility takes things to a whole new level.”
Technological hotbed
During his welcoming speech, Hexagon’s general manager and director of sales and marketing Brett Green commented: “Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence has been at the forefront of the motorsport sector for many years. In the UK the industry is worth in excess of £10 billion and a large proportion of that business is centred within a 150 mile radius of this location.
“Our interests in the sector encompass technology on two wheels as well as four: for over 10 years, Hexagon’s F1 support activities have steadily increased and more recently we’ve become a technical partner to the FIM World Superbike Championships, supplying valuable metrology data supporting those events around the world.”
But by Mr Green’s own admission, whilst it was the motorsport connection that made Silverstone Park such an attractive venue for the Metrology Centre, it’s actually a hotbed of leading edge technology in a number of other sectors: “As the project developed, together with our partners at MEPC, we identified a vast number of companies in the area both large and small, operating in a really diverse range of industries,” he enthused. “The common denominator with all those businesses however is a deep rooted desire to develop products and services of the highest quality; these companies are all potential customers.
“We believe that quality drives productivity and our real objective, through the opportunities the Metrology Centre offers, is to provide customers with what we call actionable information – data that enables clients to make informed decisions to improve their processes. And we want to emphasise that this isn’t motorsport exclusive – currently we’re carrying out work on behalf of aerospace, defence, and medical customers. ”
Mr Green was also very complimentary about the business relationship that has developed during the project between Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence and MEPC, the management company behind Silverstone Park: “It’s almost 18 months since we started talking to Roz Bird, commercial director at Silverstone Park, about the development of a Metrology Centre and I must say the collaboration has been exemplary,” he emphasised.
“What you see here today is the culmination of a lot of hard work from both sides; it’s a fantastic example of what can be achieved when two like-minded companies work together with a common goal. I’d like to particularly thank Hexagon’s sales manager John Drover, and Claire Waterson, one of our portable metrology internal sales specialists, for their vision, energy and commitment in delivering a world class facility.”
Metrology bottlenecks
With such a wide ranging product and service portfolio, establishing a subcontract metrology facility was perhaps a logical step, but as John Drover explains, this isn’t a new concept for Hexagon: “To be honest we’ve always offered a subcontract service but previously it was integrated with our day to day business which as you can imagine, proved very challenging in terms of capacity,” he reveals.
“Effectively, you’re ‘borrowing’ the demonstration machine in the showroom; this causes conflicts between the sales guys, who need access to the machine for demonstration purposes, and the applications engineers trying to measure parts on behalf of their customers. It also means resources are stretched; customers would often have to wait for their inspection tasks to be carried out because staff were busy doing other things or the machine simply wasn’t available. Another obstacle was calibration – not particularly necessary when demoing a machine but absolutely essential for using it on customer applications. Sometimes that can take two weeks, introducing further delays.”
The right balance
The bottom line was that Hexagon as a business was unhappy with this arrangement. Demand for subcontract inspection was on the rise and as a consequence capacity issues would inevitably increase exponentially. The idea of a dedicated subcontract inspection facility was born and conversations between Hexagon and MEPC began.
“MEPC took over the management of Silverstone Park late in 2013,” Mr Drover affirmed, “and their goal from the start was to create the largest technology cluster in the UK. There were already 50 or so companies on the site when they took the reins so they asked their ‘tenants’ what services they needed most to help their respective businesses. One of the most popular responses was a metrology service so MEPC approached us (and others) to see if we could help.”
To use a well-coined phrase, the rest is history. Hexagon put together a proposal that not only provided the facility itself, but also the equipment, staff and support necessary to offer the best possible service to customers. With the surrounding area being such a technological hotbed, this needed to be much more than just a home for metrology equipment so provision was made for a members lounge/meeting area. In addition, regular networking events (bi-monthly) are planned with guest speakers, and clients are encouraged to drop in and discuss their metrology requirements with Hexagon staff. The whole ambience manages to be both professional and relaxed at the same time – surely the best way to do business?
Membership matters
Underpinning the Metrology Centre at Silverstone is a sliding scale membership system. There are three levels of membership: individual; SMEs; and larger organisations, and all members get access to the metrology services, members lounge and networking events, so as well as the obvious practical benefits, it’s also a great place to hold meetings and briefings in a relaxed environment.
“Members also get preferential rates on use of the subcontract metrology service and training,” Mr Drover added. “With the former for example, if a company uses the service two or three times a year, that will effectively cover their membership costs because of the discount involved.”
Let’s talk real money: Hexagon’s daily rate for use of a CMM is £950 and for members this is reduced to £750. So for an SME paying £600 per year for membership, that fee is covered in three days’ worth of subcontract inspection. It should be stressed that non-members can use the subcontract service – albeit at a higher rate, but in reality it is a no-brainer. The networking opportunities alone must be worth the membership fee.
Another point worthy of note is that Hexagon will use the Centre to train the metrology engineers of tomorrow. Students from the nearby UTC (University Technical College) have already visited the facility and equipment can be loaned as required for training purposes.
Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence www.hexagonmi.com
