Make inspection processes more efficient

Méca-Précis employs a robotic measuring cell to streamline its inspection processes. In this setup, a robot operates a Mitutoyo coordinate measuring machine (CMM), thereby eliminating bottlenecks in parts inspection.

Based in Châtillon-sur-Indre, the company—currently led by Bruno Mériaudeau—was founded by his father in 1975 with the aim of manufacturing high-precision mechanical components. When Bruno joined the company in 1982, he was its eighth employee. Today, Méca-Précis has a workforce of 45 and operates a fleet of 25 machine tools—18 of which are CNC-controlled—while the third generation of the founding family, Nicolas Mériaudeau, joined the management team in 2023.

Méca-Précis specializes in the manufacture of prototype parts, custom one-off pieces, small-to-medium production runs, and welded mechanical assemblies. The company produces complex parts for the aerospace sector (including the satellite industry) but also manufactures components and complete assemblies for a global leader in cardboard packaging machinery, among others.

Technical expertise and high-quality machinery are essential prerequisites for manufacturing these demanding components. However, ensuring that the parts meet strict dimensional specifications is equally important. To this end, Méca-Précis uses a standard measuring machine on the shop floor and a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) in a separate, temperature-controlled room.

When inspection becomes a production bottleneck

For certain projects—particularly in the aerospace industry—Méca-Précis’s customers require 100% inspection of every dimension on every single manufactured part, both before and after surface treatment. Nicolas Mériaudeau: "Dimensional inspection of a single pin might take just a minute—but when 300 need to be checked, that takes five hours. And inspecting a single complex satellite component can take up to 80 hours."

As production volumes at Méca-Précis continued to rise and multiple CNC machining centers ran through the night, the coordinate measuring machine could no longer keep up, and the two inspectors were also overwhelmed. Bruno Mériaudeau: "To maintain a high level of service and manufacturing quality while ensuring reasonable delivery times for our customers, we had to eliminate the bottleneck in the inspection process—so we looked for a way to automate it."

Solution: Coordinate measuring machine with robotic loading

Since the manufacturer of the CMM used by Méca-Précis could not offer a suitable solution, Nicolas Mériaudeau turned to Mitutoyo. Mitutoyo proposed a robotic inspection cell featuring a MiSTAR coordinate measuring machine. The project was developed in collaboration with system integrator Engineering Data, a specialist in workholding technology and the automation of machining centers.

Less than a year after the initial meeting between the teams from Mitutoyo, Engineering Data, and Méca-Précis, the robotic inspection cell was put into service. After another six months, it was fully commissioned and operational—a successful combination of Engineering Data’s expertise in automating machine tool loading and Mitutoyo’s metrology know-how.

Design and operation of the robotic inspection cell

The robot-operated CMM is housed in an enclosed structure. This ensures operator safety, while extensive glazing allows for an unobstructed view of the operations. The cell integrates a multi-axis articulated robot for handling tasks, a Mitutoyo MiSTAR coordinate measuring machine designed for production environments, and an automated storage system with capacity for up to 20 pallets holding the parts to be inspected. A loading station accessible from outside the cell enables operator interaction without interrupting automated operations.

The process begins with the operator placing a pallet containing a component onto the designated loading station. The pallet holds the component in a position compatible with the automated system's handling and measurement processes. Using the cell's human-machine interface, the operator selects the appropriate component type. This information is transmitted to the cell controller, which automatically assigns the component to the corresponding inspection program. The robot then picks up the pallet and transfers it to the storage system. This process repeats until the storage system is fully loaded.

Once the storage system is full or the measurement cycle is ready to begin, the operator starts the inspection cycle. The cell then operates.autonomously. The robot retrieves the stored pallets one by one and places them on the worktable of the CMM, which is equipped with a clamping fixture that ensures correct positioning and stability during measurement. The coordinate measuring machine executes the inspection program assigned to the part and performs the necessary measurements. The duration of this phase depends on the number of features to be inspected and the complexity of the component, ranging from a few minutes to several hours. At the end of the inspection cycle, the robot returns the pallet to the storage cabinet.

This cycle repeats automatically until all loaded parts have been inspected. Measurement results are recorded by the system and can be reviewed later by metrology technicians. The entire process relies on coordination between the robot controller, the measuring machine, and the cell as a whole. Automating pallet handling makes it possible to decouple the loading operations from the measurement phases. This ensures continuous utilization of the measuring equipment while simultaneously reducing manual handling—an efficient, time-saving solution for integrating measurement processes into the manufacturing of precision components.