ADDITIONAL INFO
We didn’t mention the pro’s and cons of the (innovations regarding the) FARO Arm in the posters (previous post), which are obviously pretty important for the business case.
When we discussed the developments of the Arm with our contacts at FARO, they told us they were developing a fully automatic arm, which can be placed within the production process to measure at different points during the production, and not ‘just’ at the end of the production line. The demand for an automated arm is still low, but it is expected that in the future this demand will grow.
The advantage of full automation quality measurements is that it will take less time than with the arm as it is now; you won’t need operators anymore, and because you place the Arm directly into the production line the scanning time will decrease. A disadvantage, however, is that when you ‘fix’ this Arm into production you can only use it for that line. Right now, with the portable, manual Arm, you can use it for different components in different parts of the factory. Also there is an ethical question: do you want to fire people due to automation of quality control?
