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News and views about improving
the design and manufacture of
metal-formed parts and components.
ISO UPDATE: Continuous Improvement
Bomco Updates ISO Registration, Improves Productivity.
Steady improvement is an inherent part of everything that Bomco does, on the shop floor as well as in administrative offices. Paula Gilbo, Quality Manager, puts it very clearly: "Virtually everything we do every day is based on improvement and is accurately measured. If we add new equipment (see accompanying article) or change a procedure, we establish standards that are accurately measured on a regular basis."
Gilbo and her quality improvement staff are not the only ones watching Bomco's quality management system. Bomco retains an outside quality auditing organization that is accredited under the aerospace Registrar Management Program. Their auditors, intimately familiar with the International Standards Organization (ISO) series of standards, perform "surveillance audits" every six months and a full quality audit every year. Gilbo points out "these audits are very serious and are critical to Bomco's success." In the last audit (July), Gilbo adds "we did quite well and have received an updated registration in the category of Formed Metal Products for Airline Industry:"ISO 9000:2000 and AS9100."
"While this registration applies to the aerospace industry," Vice President for technical sales, Mark Standley, quickly points out, "all our customers benefit even if they don't currently have ISO requirements."
And Bomco customers can be assured that continuous improvement is a way of business for all employees. President Pete Banks makes it very clear: "We are serious about this, our suppliers and customers are serious, and we intend to stay in the forefront."
New Coordinate Measuring Arm Brings Inspection,
Data Storage and Retrieval to New Level.
Bomco has recently added a new Romer CimCore Series 3000i portable Coordinate Measurement Machine to the Quality Management program. The new 6-axis portable CMM significantly improves Bomco's ability to perform tight-tolerance inspections of complex geometric and 3-dimensionally contoured components.
The 4-foot carbon graphite arm, stronger than steel and dimensionally accurate regardless of temperature, is considered to be the world's most accurate. It will measure to ± .005mm (.0002 in.) using the Single Point Sphere Test, a performance benchmark that makes this tool well-suited for tight-tolerance work in the commercial and aerospace fields. In addition to its superior maneuverability, intelligent quick-change probes that can be swapped out on-the-fly without tools or recalibration provide for setup flexiblity, and significantly reduce inspection cycle times.
Bomco's new measurement arm is monitored by a laptop computer connected wirelessly to the network backbone. Such a configuration ensures that the CMM can be utilized for in-process inspections anywhere in the shop, while preserving the cabability of publishing real-time inspection reports to the internal fileserver. The laptop's integrated PowerINSPECT software leverages highly detailed resolutions of inspectable characteristics with its CAD-to-Part comparison function formatted especially for AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop, and Unigraphics NX2.
With a large array of reports, data storage and retrieval, Bomco will share an increasing amount of inspection and acceptance data directly with many customers. Customers also benefit from faster, more accurate inspections and simplified documentation of ISO requirements. These new capabilities represent significant advances in Bomco's continuous improvement program.
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Jim Knowlton, chief inspector, uses the new Romer Cimcore CMM measuring arm to accurately measure and record the contours and dimensions of an aerospace part.
© 2004 Bomco, Inc., Gloucester, MA
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