Faro measures up to Volvo's large parts

Volvo Construction Equipment eliminated manual measurements on large equipment at its Asheville plant by incorporating a multi-axis measurement arm from Faro Technologies.

Measuring large parts accurately has long been a challenge to the manufacturing industry. Perhaps in no other area is this more true than within the off-road, heavy-equipment industries, where a single part can measure as much as 3 × 4.5 m (10 × 15 ft) or larger.

Such was the case at the Volvo Construction Equipment Plant in Asheville, NC. According to Scott Valentine, Senior Quality Engineer at Volvo, because many of their parts were too large to fit in the plant's existing CMMs, to correctly position piece parts, employees had to use manual-layout methods such as engine mounts, transmission mounts, ladder racks, and electrical-wire and hydraulic-hose harnesses along the frames and rear beds of its loaders and haulers.