Renishaw and Status Metrology Official Channel Partnership sets new standards for service delivery
Background
Two companies – one vision
When it comes to delivering precision technology solutions, Renishaw and Status Metrology have a shared passion. For over fifty years Renishaw has provided innovative metrology technologies to help manufacturers around the world tackle demanding production challenges. Over thirty years, Status Metrology has become a major player in the provision of CMM solutions and services, delivering bespoke metrology solutions and services across the UK engineering sector, from aerospace and automotive to energy and manufacturing.
During this time Renishaw and Status Metrology have enjoyed a trusted customer-supplier relationship. The strength of this relationship was underlined in 2022 when Status Metrology was invited to join Renishaw's Official Channel Partner programme.
Renishaw's Official Channel Partner programme
Renishaw's Channel Partner programme is dedicated to promoting the highest standards of customer service and product support. Renishaw selects partner companies for their sector-specific experience and expertise in a range of metrology and manufacturing disciplines.
Our partnership status with Renishaw is very exciting. There is a mutual interest here that extends far beyond the traditional customer-supplier relationship. It is truly dynamic. We have benefitted from greater integration into the Renishaw business, gaining real insight into their products, teams, and operations. They also provide invaluable commercial, technical and sales support, and training. In return we provide our specialist skills and technology. In that sense the relationship has been absolutely fantastic.
Richard Newhouse, Director, Status Metrology
Giuseppe Lai, Renishaw Plc, says “The Official Channel Partner programme is designed to deliver the excellence in customer service that Renishaw is known for to an even wider audience, through the use of carefully selected partners that share our core values.”
“Status Metrology have a skillset and mindset that really suits the Official Channel Partner programme. They are responsive, enthusiastic and highly skilled, with excellent market knowledge and have access to a wide network of UK manufacturers.”
As part of its channel partnership, Status Metrology was given access to Renishaw's extensive measurement technology portfolio, becoming a distributor for Renishaw's game-changing Equator gauging system. By combining their industry expertise with PC-DMIS programming software, Status Metrology was able to offer the Equator gauging system to a much wider customer base.
Game-changing technology
Renishaw extended the market reach for its Equator gauging system by adding third-party software including PC-DMIS programming software. This removed a barrier to adoption.
Status Metrology's experience and long-standing association with the Equator gauging system and PC-DMIS ensured that it would be in prime position to take this solution to market.
Dean Tillett explains “The integration of market-leading hardware in the Equator gauging system and the software customers already know and use in PC-DMIS is a perfect solution for customers who require large volume produced parts to be dimensionally inspected at speed. It delivers incredible accuracy, whether on the shop floor or at the end of a production line, whether robot or co-bot loading, or simply via shop floor personnel.”
“The Renishaw Equator gauging system with PC-DMIS software marks a step-change in precision measurement technology that widens Renishaw's market reach and enables Status Metrology to offer its customers a redefined metrology solution.”
The recognition we have achieved by being awarded Official Channel Partner status with Renishaw affirms to our customers that Status Metrology is aligned with some of the best technologies in the metrology industry.
Dean Tillett, Managing Director, Status Metrology
Challenge
Status Metrology's customer is a successful and innovative pharmaceutical tooling manufacturer.
“One of Status Metrology's customers used two PC-DMIS powered CMMs,” explains Richard Newhouse. “Every single component produced needed one hundred percent inspection, putting the CMMs under huge pressure. There was virtually no room for research and development, first article inspection, or anything other than managing production through the door. The customer recognised the need for a faster measurement system that could free up their CMMs, but they also wanted to retain their programming and mastering inhouse. The answer was the Renishaw Equator gauging system.”
Solution
Renishaw's Equator gauging system
Renishaw's Equator gauging system excels in high-volume production settings where speed, adaptability, and cost-efficiency are essential for maintaining consistent manufacturing quality.
They are fast and highly repeatable gauging systems for automated comparison of production parts to a reference master part. Re-mastering is as swift as measuring a production part and immediately compensates for any change in the thermal conditions of a shop floor environment. Equator systems can be used in factories with wide temperature variation – simply re-master and the system is ‘re-zeroed', ready for repeatable comparison to the master.
Renishaw has worked closely with leading providers of metrology software packages to enable compatibility with the Equator comparator gauging system. This means a growing range of packages, including PC-DMIS, can now be used with the Equator gauge, enabling customers to enjoy the benefits of the system, whilst using their existing software.
Status Metrology installed the Renishaw Equator gauging system with PC-DMIS programming software.
The Equator gauge's parallel kinematic structure and comparative measurement process delivered the rapid, repeatable results the client needed directly on the shop floor.
Results
Once installed, the Renishaw Equator gauge provided a very flexible, high-speed inspection process within a high-volume production environment. It also removed the measurement bottleneck without compromising on accuracy, handing back capacity to the CMMs. Meanwhile, retaining the entire inspection process in-house. It enabled the customer to utilise familiar software and existing expertise, minimising the need for training or relearning.
Outlook
For Status Metrology, the prospect of new opportunities provided by its partnership with Renishaw is inspiring. Their association emphasises a shared vision and fuels their commitment to continue to innovate, offering the best possible precision metrology solutions for clients throughout the industry.
Richard Newhouse says “For Renishaw, the partnership clearly drives new opportunities and at the same time they benefit from our specialist skills and technology, and our strong belief in the Renishaw offering. From our perspective, as a smaller business, this close association brings a lot of kudos and many more opportunities to enter new markets. For Status Metrology and Renishaw this really is a win-win partnership.”
Dean Tillett concludes “We are proud and excited to be associated with Renishaw and are confident the future looks bright. Most importantly we are excited by what this partnership can offer our customers and – ultimately – UK engineering as a whole.”
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