Closed-loop manufacturing
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Closed-loop manufacturing (abbreviated CLM) is a closed-loop process of manufacturing and measuring (checking) in the manufacturing machine. The pre-stage to this is inspection in manufacturing. The idea is to reduce costs and improve the quality and accuracy of the produced parts.
General procedure
[edit]Closed-loop manufacturing can be done in different ways dependent on the manufacturing technique and on the accuracy requirements.
- Planning the sequence (iterations)
- Producing nearly the target value on the part
- Measuring the real value
- Calculating the residual (stop if residual is smaller than needed accuracy)
- Manufacturing the residual
- Repeat from Step 3
Suitable manufacturing techniques
[edit]CLM is very suitable for electrical discharge machining. Milling or turning is also suitable for CLM.
Suitable measuring techniques
[edit]In machining measurement techniques have to fulfill special needs. In particular optical techniques have the advantage that they do not touch the part. The following parts are practically used:
- Focus variation
- Tactile probes
Advantages / Disadvantages
[edit]The advantages are:
- Reduce tool costs
- Improving accuracy
- Quality control is done in the machine directly
- Measuring can be more accurate because the part does not need to be unloaded
- Better deployment of personnel
- Integrated sensor eliminates clamping errors
The disadvantages are:
- Planning is needed
- If planning is not done, machine time is increased