Tell us about your company and its product range and solutions
As the world’s most trusted source for 3D measurement, imaging, and realization technology, FARO develops and manufactures leading-edge solutions that enable high-precision 3D capture, measurement, and analysis across a variety of industries including manufacturing, construction, engineering, and public safety.
FARO’s products enable manufacturers to maximize efficiencies and improve processes, and its technologies are widely used across various industry verticals, including the automotive, aerospace, metalworking, energy and shipbuilding sectors.
Amongst our extensive portfolio of solutions, we are proud to have market leadership position with the FaroArm®, a portable articulated arm CMM. The FaroArm is capable of supporting manufacturers in performing 3D inspections, CAD-to-part analysis, machine alignment, and reverse engineering. The recently released FARO® 8-Axis Quantum FaroArm® is the world’s only eight-axis portable metrology arm solution, which further extends our leadership in this area. Seamlessly integrated with any FaroArm, the eighth axis enables the part to be rotated in real-time, relative to the Arm. This removes difficulties users may have previously experienced in reaching around the object and eliminates the need to move the Arm into different locations during the measurement process.
Your views about the Indian Machine Tool Industry?
As the global manufacturing industry matures, we see that India’s machine tools manufacturers are increasingly adopting higher standards and demanding greater precision and speed in their operations, especially for inspections and quality checks. Additionally, government support — especially with the ‘Make in India’ program firmly in place — has also given India’s machine tool industry a huge boost. For these reasons, we continue to see India as a key part of FARO’s business, and our three offices in New Delhi (India head office), Chennai, and Pune are prepared to offer comprehensive support to our customers in the region.
What are the top trends you observe in the industry?The industry is continually evolving due to increasingly complex market needs and requirements, and therefore requires unceasing innovation to ensure a steady introduction of varied solutions. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) continue to have the potential to bring significant change to the manufacturing industry. Machines, robots, and other equipment on a production floor can now communicate with each other, and data can be gathered in the cloud for analysis. This trend is urging manufacturers to look for solutions that will allow them to digitize information and digitalize processes in order to improve their organization’s response to market changes. Solutions with advanced technology that empower customers to tap on data-driven collaborations for improved productivity are also expected to rise to prominence in the market.
In addition, manufacturers’ measurement needs have grown to become increasingly complex over the last decade — with the growing complexity and intricacies of product designs. This will likely continue to be true moving forward as manufacturers push boundaries in the product development process, according to consumer demand. Effectively, we expect that customers will require even more innovative, advanced technologies that meet their sophisticated measurement needs.
What are the new technologies that are gaining acceptance in manufacturing industry?
By now, the Indian Machine Tool industry is quite familiar with portable CMM solutions (e.g. laser trackers and articulated arms) that enable manufacturers to efficiently digitize product designs and relevant 3D measurement data. However, 3D inspection and verification solutions like our FARO® Visual Inspect are also gaining ground with a select group of users. The Visual Inspect offers manufacturers new opportunities for enhanced collaboration across departments and production processes. Using complex 3D data previously unavailable in a production line, the Visual Inspect provides an augmented reality (AR) function that is suitable for all working environments, enabling manufacturers to streamline their processes and relieve cost pressures. What are your thoughts on the future of the Indian Machine Tool Industry?India is one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. With the India government pushing for infrastructure investments, the future looks set to be bright for companies operating in both the industrial manufacturing and construction segments — which will in turn bring about rapid growth of the machine tool industry.
Tell us about what are you showcasing at the IMTEX 2019?
At IMTEX 2019, we’ll be presenting a selection of our product portfolio, including the best-selling FaroArm® line. The FARO® 8-Axis Quantum FaroArm® is the world’s only eight-axis portable metrology arm solution that enables operators to rotate a part in real-time, relative to the arm. This removes difficulties users may have previously experienced in reaching around the object and eliminates the need to move the arm into different locations during the measurement process. When paired with the FAROBlu™ or Prizm™ Laser Line Probe, the resulting solution is a comprehensive, contact and non-contact metrology solution that allows users to speed up and simplify their measurement and scanning activities. In addition, Prizm™ is the first LLP that scans objects in high resolution, 3D color. Ideally suited for inspecting molded parts, the true-to-life functionality allows inspection professionals to drive out dimensional and surface character quality issues that would otherwise slow the end-to-end production process.
Besides the articulated arm, we will also be showcasing various other portable CMM solutions including our FARO® Vantage Laser Tracker (with 6Probe) for large-scale measurements; FARO® Tracer Laser Projector for virtual templating and positioning; and our FARO® Cobalt Array Imager for automated, non-contact inspections on the factory floor.
