The role of the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) in helping to rescue North American manufacturing is hard to overstate: as globalization subjected factories here to competition from around the world, including from countries with cheaper labour and fewer regulations, CMMs helped make factories here competitive by automating quality control along production lines.
CMM machines helped reduce costs by performing quality control better than humans ever could, and at a much lower rate. CMM machines can make an enormous impact in your factory, but the impact will be higher still if you purchase one of these machines used and from an authorized dealer.
Read on to learn all the benefits of buying your CMM machine used and from an authorized dealer.
MDNA Code of Ethics
When you purchase a used CMM machine from an independent seller or from auction, you won’t get the guarantees that come with purchasing from a dealer authorized by the Machinery Dealers National Association (MDNA).
Such guarantees include detailed and accurate descriptions of key information about the equipment before purchasing, such as its condition, specifications, and adherence to industry terms and definitions. They will also refund any machinery that turns out to be mechanically unsatisfactory, or they will repair it at dealer’s option.
After you buy from a private seller or from an auction, you’re simply on your own. Buy your used CMM machine from an authorized dealer to get importance assurances.
Protect Yourself from Risk
Do you have the expertise required to inspect a CMM machine’s condition, so you know it’s working the way it should at the time of purchase? It’s essential to really know what you’re doing when evaluating a used coordinate measuring machine because this equipment must deliver reliable and repeatable results.
Authorized dealers will put the probes, drive systems, air lines, bearings and cabling through a thorough inspection. They will also give you formal guarantees that it the machine will work to inspection right from the time you buy, or they’ll fix it for free.
Software Check
Are you up to date on all the latest information about CMM software? If you buy a used machine from an independent seller or from auction, the software inside may be obsolete or perhaps not what’s best suited to deliver on all your needs.
Authorized dealers give you expert advice about the software that comes with the machine, and they can give you guidance on what to buy if you need to buy other software.
Proper Initial Calibration
CMM machines perform quality control so they need to be absolutely precise and dependable. You can’t just plug in a machine so precise and have it work properly — it needs to be installed and calibrated from the time you get it so you know it works right to spec.
A CMM machine can save you valuable money, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend top dollar on it. Be smart when you buy it, and buy it used and from an authorized dealer.