Apex improves capabilities and responsiveness through investment in 5-axis CMM technology and flexible gauging
A step-change in macro-economic factors led CMM specialists, Apex Metrology Ltd (Apex), to conduct a strategic review of its service offering. Customer demands were changing rapidly and becoming less predictable. Part complexities were increasing, delivery deadlines shortening and production volumes becoming more fluid. A move to Renishaw's REVO® 5-axis co-ordinate measurement system and Equator™ gauging system ensured Apex maintained the responsiveness and future-proofing it needed for the years ahead.
Apex Metrology is one of the UK's leading providers of co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) services. Its customer base includes a diverse range of companies from sectors including aerospace, automotive, medical and energy.
The Scottish company has always prided itself on going the extra mile and offering its customers a comprehensive service that helps keeps pace with on-going developments in CMM technology and international quality standards.
Challenge
REVO 5-axis head providing infinite positioning capability
Like any business operating in an international high technology market, Apex is by no means immune to the impact of macro-economic factors.
Young explained, “With advances in product design software, material technologies, and metal 3D printing, we began to see a general increase in the different types and volumes of CMM projects we were presented with. This technological evolution, combined then with the Brexit decision and the global COVID-19 pandemic, created a new set of business challenges to address.”
Moves by many businesses to identify more local sources of supply, a need for them to further minimise operating costs and observe restrictions on long distance travel and social distancing for example, meant the profile of the Apex customer base and its needs was changing rapidly.
He continued, “We knew we had to adapt and further augment the service we were offering. Customer planning horizons were also becoming shorter. What were previously quite predictable and cyclical demands became far less assured. It was clear that we needed to become even more agile than we were and to introduce even higher levels of future-proofing.”
A small independent business built on steady growth, Apex has always invested in the latest technology in order to offer its customers the best-fit technological solution. True to its ethos, it made the decision to increase its in-house capabilities with a strategic investment in next-generation metrology equipment.