Precision Machining
Harrop Engineering is a local success story for Australian manufacturing industry and at the forefront of manufacturing excellence for the past 50-years since Len Harrop founded the company in 1954. The business is now managed under the stewardship of Len's son and current Managing Director Ron Harrop.
Today Harrop Engineering is a world-class supplier of CNC machined high performance engine and racing components both for local racing teams in Australia as well as for a growing list of overseas customers.
Harrop's products include performance systems encompassing superchargers, intake systems, brake assemblies, drive line and suspension, engine components and custom engineering. The extensive array of engineering technologies employed at Harrop include computer-aided engineering as well as state-of-the-art casting technologies for industrial and automotive industries.
Production technologies and processes at Harrop Engineering's Preston facilities include:
- Product Design & Verification
- Turn Key Project Management
- 3 - 8 Axis Precision Machining
- Fabrication & Assembly
- Tool Making & Pattern Making
- In-house aluminium casting and heat treatment
In keeping with Harrop's constant search for the latest manufacturing technologies to enhance and to further improve their lean manufacturing operation at Preston in Melbourne's north-east, an approach was made to Hi-Tech Metrology to find the latest advances in measurement technology. The key objective was to find ways in which to further improve productivity at Harrop and to assist the business achieve even higher quality results for a huge range of products, and at same time increase the capacity of the business in its metrology department.
Harrop found that Hi-Tech Metrology, was not only able to offer an extensive range of the latest technology in terms of fixed coordinate measuring machines available from Hexagon Metrology, the largest supplier of metrology products in the world currently, with brand such as Sheffield, Brown & Sharpe, DEA and Leitz; but they also had an impressive and extensive range of the latest portable metrology equipment from FARO Technologies of the USA. This included the brand-new on-machine inspection tool from FARO, the FARO Gage; and this item immediately became a key area of interest for Harrop.
Harrop subsequent to these discussions went on to purchase a Brown & Sharpe Global Performance CMM from Hi-Tech Metrology as well as a FARO Gage portable measurement system from Hi-The Metrology and both products were delivered and installed at Harrop in May 2007.
The FARO Gage is a very accurate portable coordinate measuring machine that has been specifically designed to be taken to the machine tool or where the component is being manufactured - rather than taking the part once machined to the CMM, saving the need to break-down the machine tool set-up or to loose the set-up position in the chuck, if the part requires re-machining after measurement checking.
The FARO Gage can measure machined features down to a resolution of +/-5 micron, and is accurate as many fixed coordinate measuring machines. By measuring the part whilst it is still in the machine tool chuck or fixture dimensional accuracy can be quickly and easily checked by the machine tool operators. The software supplied with the FARO Gage has been written in such a way that it operators to check geometric features fast and accurately, with a user-friendly interface that is similar to playing on a video game.
The operators of the CNC machine tools at Harrop Engineering really enjoy using the FARO Gage and now find that they can be more productive with their machining activities and have a greater confidence in the dimensional accuracy of the components they are producing. A total of six operators now use the FARO Gage, after three were initially trained by Hi-Tech Metrology's staff. As Tim Harrop, Operations Manager Harrop Engineering says..."Our operators have really taken to the FARO Gage since we fist got it in May this year. I see it being used every day in the workshop which I think is clear testimony to the ease and simplicity of the Gage. We have also seen an dramatic improvement in our productivity and quality outcomes since the FARO Gage has been employed in the workshop. I think every serious CNC machine shop should have at least one FARO Gage in their operation. The FARO Gage and our new Brown & Sharpe Global CMM work remarkably very well together as a total quality and inspection system - with each complimenting the other machine."
The Brown & Sharpe coordinate measuring machine now used in Harrop Engineering's expanded metrology laboratory is an excellent addition to the business's metrology capabilities. The new CMM greatly enhances not only the measurement capacity of the metrology department at Harrop but also brings a new era of dimensional accuracy. Measurements were observed being taken, in a recent visit to Harrop, on a super charger housingcasting destined for a US-customer, measuring true position down to a level of 25 micron, a measurement capability not previously achievable with any other measuring equipment at this price point and flexibility.
The recent experiences at Harrop Engineering highlights the application of the latest metrology technology - both fixed and portable, to modern manufacturing and production facilities in order to obtain a competitive sustainable advantage for the business. We believe that it will be through the application of such technology that Australian businesses are better able to compete on the world stage and we would encourage all Australian manufacturing business to look at ways to employ these types of measurement technologies in their business in order to help improve quality and operational efficiencies.
Many Australian companies like Harrop have been early adopters of the use of the latest measurement technologies for their business. They find that the use of CMM technology augments their investment in the latest CNC machining technology. The use of these advanced measurement systems not only gives the business owner a far better overall return on their production investment but helps with peace of mind in the knowledge that the parts they are producing off their state-of-the-art equipment will meet or exceed the design and quality specifications intended.