Phillips Precision is a Cimquest customer in Boylston, MA. They are a machine shop that specializes in prototypes and light production. One of their specialties is new product development that addresses various problems.
Six years ago they bought their first CMM (coordinate measuring machine). After the equipment was delivered and placed on their shop floor their first challenge was holding the parts down on the granite table. They didn’t know how to hold the parts down efficiently and after trying glue and double-sided tape they realized that they needed a better solution – a grid plate with threaded holes. They begin to design and make their own grid plates and then began selling them to other companies, but they soon identified that there was still a big problem with the way the inspectors were getting work through their inspection department. This was still not the most efficient way to get the job done.
They went back to the drawing board and brainstormed new ideas. They developed a rail system where individual work plates could be plugged into the CMM. They designed different types of clamps and then go right over to their 3D printer and print the designed clamp. From there they would go to their Mastercam station, program the part, and send the file to the CNC machine wirelessly with their Cimco wireless router. The whole system worked seamlessly for them. With control over their entire production cycle they are able to keep producing new products.
When the economy took a turn for the worse in 2008 and most shops were struggling, Phillips Precision was developing and making their own products and creating their own business.
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