Heidenhain Distributor Will Use API’s 6 DoF Laser Interferometer to Offer More Solutions to Customers
For more than fifteen years, Interfag worked as a licensed Heidenhain distributor, selling the parts, installing them, and servicing large machine tools, sometimes greater than 3m. After maintenance, Interfag would recommend contracting a laser interferometer calibration to ensure the machine’s accuracy. Over time, Interfag developed a plan to provide this service to their clients directly. They weighed all options, but they were won over by API’s XD Laser Interferometer. XD has allowed Interfag to:
- Expand their business offerings into Diagnostic Metrology
- Dramatically reduce customer downtime
- Provide a complete analysis of the machine to customers
- Become a complete company in measurement solutions
Headquartered in Campinas since 2003, Interfag has been working to serve companies that need advice on industrial project development. They are Heidenhain Authorized Industrial Technical Assistance, in the countryside of São Paulo and Minas Gerais, with a main goal not only to sell a service product, but to provide a complete solution to customers. Today, besides being an automation service company, they are a company for Measurements of large volumes, using equipment such as: Heidenhain gauges, Interferometers, and Laser Trackers.
For over a decade, Interfag was able to meet their customer’s needs with these product offerings. But with greater demand in process solutions, working with linear scale often left them with no way to do the measurement in a more reliable way. In those cases, Interfag would recommend the customer contract a laser interferometer inspection from an outside company to verify the results. It was then that the need arose to acquire a laser interferometer for themselves and give the customer more concrete proof of the machine’s accuracy through a final report.
“Our processes were made with conventional instruments for linear measurements and angled to square,” says Milton Wagner, Technical Director at Interfag. “Even relying on the equipment, it was difficult to pass on to the customer a concrete analysis of accuracy.”
Interfag listened to all proposals in their search for an interferometer, but they were most impressed with the XD Laser and the team at API. With the XD, Interfag keeps the machine tool working by correcting all possible errors and ensuring the correct alignment of the machine tool. XD offers simultaneous measurement of all 6 Degrees of Freedom (DoF) and the flexibility for machine tool calibration, evaluating speed, acceleration, parallelism, squareness, flatness, linear, angular and scrolling errors. This diagnostic metrology increases the accuracy of the machines and allows Interfag to react with maintenance effectiveness and significantly reduce machine downtime.
“The API XD Laser reliably offers us a complete data analysis,” Wagner says. “It gives us [and the customer] confidence in the final quality of our services.”
Interfag wasn’t satisfied with just the XD, however. They have since purchased a Radian Laser Tracker to further expand their diagnostic metrology offerings, and are moving into a new office space in Campinas to accommodate the increased volume of work. To learn more about the XD Laser, click here. To learn more about API Services’ other diagnostic metrology offerings, visit services.apimetrology.com. To speak to a metrology expert or request a quote, fill out the form below.
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