With manufacturing plants in both the US and the UK and a distinguished history that
stretches back more than 100 years, the famous Cogsdill brand is synonymous with the design and manufacture of innovative tooling. Cogsdill tools reduces bore finishing cycle times and increases efficiencies within automated machining processes. The company specialize in deburring, burnishing, reaming, recessing, modular boring tools and facing heads. Cogsdill is also able to design and produce highly effective custom tools that meet customers’ specific requirements.
​The company was founded in 1914 when Stuart A. Cogsdill established a cutting tool regrinding and repair business in Detroit, Michigan. Having quickly established a reputation for developing innovative tooling solutions for tough manufacturing problems, Stuart soon began designing and manufacturing special tools for early automotive pioneers such as Henry Ford and the Dodge brothers. Currently owned and operated by the second and third generation of Stuart Cogsdill’s descendants, from its two key operating units in Camden, South Carolina, USA and Nuneaton, UK, Cogsdill now offers its 21st century customers the same high levels of commitment as its founder did. Although the global automotive industry remains a major user of Cogsdill products, the company now serves a wide range of equally demanding sectors, including the oil and gas and aerospace industries.
Increased demand for the company’s tools has resulted in a significant rise in
production at Cogsdill’s UK facility. Although the company’s Nuneaton’s manufacturing plant has the capacity to satisfy the raised demand, its important inspection provision began to struggle to keep-pace. Therefore, with the aim of boosting the business’ inspection provision, a search was made for a CNC Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM), that would be able to inspect multiple tools in a fully automated mode.
Cogsdill Executive Director, Lee Donaldson explained. “Whilst we were considering the need to find a more efficient way of inspecting our output and considering several alternative Coordinate Measuring Machine brands, an Aberlink related article in a trade magazine alerted us to the benefits of the company’s CMMs. Soon after, a successful demonstration of an Zenith 3 CNC CMM at Aberlink’s Head Quarters confirmed the suitability of the machine for our needs.
“As at that time we were waiting for a substantial capital equipment grant to be
approved, rather than order the machine, to help shorten the Zenith 3’s delivery time, we delivered a letter of intent to the Aberlink stand at the recent MACH 2018 exhibition. This enabled our new CMM to benefit from the grant and to be delivered soon after.
“After purchasing the Zenith 3 CMM through Aberlink’s agent in the midlands, Mantech Geometrics, the machine was soon installed and fully operational. The ease of use of the Zenith 3 CMM and Aberlink’s software enabled our operators to quickly master the machine’s controls. In addition to substantially improving our inspection throughput speed, our new CMM has further enhanced our inspection precision capabilities.
“We now use the machine for in-process checks and for performing accurate final inspection routines. At present we are creating inspection programs using the joystick to measure a physical part (teach-and-repeat mode). To help us to realize the machines full efficient potential, we will be writing programs using the Programming from CAD software module, that will link our new CMM to our CAD system. Soon we will be able to load multiple parts onto the Zenith 3’s large bed, download the relevant program and then perform fully automated, mass tool inspection routines.

“Not only has our new Aberlink CMM removed the current potential for inspection hold- ups, due to its impressive operating speeds, fully automated CNC nature and its large bed that is able to hold multiple workpieces, it will be able to handle the inspection needs of any anticipated future rises in our production levels.”
​Designed and manufactured by Aberlink, the largest UK owned Coordinate Measuring Machine manufacturer, the Zenith 3 series consists of 10 large capacity CNC machines with XYZ capacities ranging from 1000x1000x600 mm up to 1000x3000x800 mm.
​The innovative Zenith 3 CNC CMM is the result of the design evolution of its
predecessor, the award winning Aberlink Zenith too CMM range. The machine’s bridge and all moving parts are manufactured from advanced, strong yet lightweight materials, the resulting extremely low inertia and optimal acceleration characteristics enable the Zenith 3 to deliver extremely fast inspection times.
Thanks to innovations, such as the use of wider air bearing separation that provides greater stiffness, significantly improved accuracy has been achieved, for instance, the first term error for the Zenith 3 is now more than a micron better than its popular predecessor. Although the advanced Aberlink CMM is perfectly suited to use within environmentally controlled inspection departments, it is on the shop floor where the Zenith 3’s low thermal mass and extremely robust characteristics come to the fore. These advantageous attributes enable the accurate measurement of large components to take place nearer to the point of manufacture.
The Zenith 3’s impressive hardware is complemented by the CMM’s intuitive Windows based software. A welcome bi-product of any Zenith 3 CMM inspection routine is that a simultaneous picture of the measured component is created in real-time on the operator’s computer screen. Dimensions between the measured features, mirroring those that appear on the component drawing, are then picked o as required. In essence Aberlink’s ‘smart’ software represents an intelligent measuring system that is able to automatically recognize and define the various features being measured. A major benefit of Aberlink’s operating software is that the company provide free software updates throughout the lifetime of each of its CMMs.

  With a global Headquarters in Troy, Michigan, at the heart of America’s largest
automotive manufacturing area, in addition to being involved in a multitude of other industrial sectors, Delphi is one of the world’s largest automotive parts manufacturers. Reflecting the global nature of its business, the company operates 138 wholly owned manufacturing sites, 36 joint ventures, and 28 technical centres located in 34 countries.
Delphi boasts extensive experience in high-pressure fuel injection technology and has developed several innovative design and control strategies to meet customer’s requirements for cost competitive, low noise systems that provide accurate injection over the life of an engine. The company is the world’s second largest supplier of diesel technologies and has a strong position in the light duty, medium duty and heavy duty segments, covering everything from low cost light vehicles for developing markets, up to high-technology common rail and Electronic Unit Injector (EUI) systems for the world’s most sophisticated passenger cars, trucks and off-highway vehicles. One of several company manufacturing plants situated in the UK, Delphi’s Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, facility specialises in the high-precision manufacture of EUIs for heavy duty applications, helping vehicle and engine manufacturers around the world to meet increasingly demanding emissions legislation.
Delphi’s advanced EUI comprises an individual camshaft-plunger pump for each cylinder, that is capable of delivering fuel at very high pressures (up to 2500 bar). These high injection pressures are absolutely essential to enable engines to meet current and future emissions legislation, but require incredible manufacturing tolerances – often in the sub-micron region. Delphi’s ingenious EUI systems incorporate full electronic control, with pilot injection being employed to reduce noise. Ensuring optimum operation efficiency, sensors located around the engine feed a continuous stream of data to the Engine Control Unit (ECU) which calculates the exact amount fuel to be injected and the timing of its delivery.
In accordance with the company’s philosophy of continuous improvement, an international truck manufacturer recently challenged Delphi Stonehouse to tighten the geometric tolerances on the interface between the EUIs from 100 μm to 30 μm.
Exceeding drawing requirements, and beyond the inherent capability of the processes involved, the new increased tolerance demanded a revaluation of the manufacturing and inspection methods involved. The urgency of the request called for a rapid reaction from the customer-focused Stonehouse team. Mindful of the required quick response, a manufacturing and inspection strategy was embarked upon for the high-volume injectors. As an inspection bottle-neck was quickly identified as a major potential difficulty, in consultation with Chris Gay, one of the Delphi Stonehouse’s preferred inspection equipment suppliers; several potential gauging solutions were explored. Having deemed dedicated fixtures as being too inflexible, an ideal solution was found in the best selling, Axiom too Coordinate Measuring Machine from the largest UK owned Coordinate Measuring Machine manufacturer, Aberlink.
​ Will Johnson, Delphi Stonehouse Quality Manager, takes up the story. “Having rejected several other measurement strategies, the in-depth understanding of our complex and tight-tolerance measuring problem, shown by Aberlink, on our initial approach to them, gave us the confidence to explore their suggested solution. Within a two week period, working closely with Delphi personnel, Aberlink ran injector measurement trials, made minor modifications to their software, successfully completed arduous R&R trials and installed two Axiom too CNC CMMs within the Stonehouse facility. Mindful of the urgency of our requirements and to further expedite the procurement process, we took advantage of Aberlink’s Rental Scheme. As the Aberlink operator interface is relatively simple, we have enjoyed the benefits of a reduced training time, whilst the high speed of our new Aberlink CMMs will enable us to keep up with the current, unit inspection volume of 2000 units per week, and also our projected throughput of 3000 units. It was enlightening to compare the Axiom too with our existing CMM, that cost 5 times more. We were astonished that our new, less expensive machines delivered similar levels of accuracy, whilst considerably out-performing the more expensive CMM when it came to the speed of inspection routines.”

Despite the prevailing economic conditions, Aberlink has continued to enjoy excellent global sales within the small and medium CMM market. Dave Robinson, Business Development Manager at Aberlink, points out “our strategy of providing high quality products, that are affordable, accurate and above all easy to use, has enabled Aberlink to grow organically to become the largest UK owned CMM manufacture. New initiatives, such as our generous Machine Rental Scheme, have enabled customers to continue to obtain our CMMs at a time of restricted liquidity”.
Always at the forefront of CMM innovation, Aberlink has recently completed installation of several specialist machining centres at its worldwide headquarters in Gloucester. In-house manufacturing is an investment Aberlink has always believed in, not only to control cost but more importantly to ensure the most appropriative equipment and process are used to manufacture the key components it uses to build machines. Every Aberlink CMM’s boast a high-grade aluminium bridge incorporating premium quality air bearings ensuring optimum performance across a range of environments, including less than perfect shop-floor conditions. Whilst ingenious integration of the machine electronics into the CMM frame, rather than a separate desk unit, has resulted in Aberlink machines boasting the smallest footprint of any equivalent size machine.
Popular throughout the world, Aberlink’s revolutionary 3D measurement software provides the user with a powerful, yet easy to use interface, substantially increasing new users’ component through-put, whilst greatly shortening their software leaning period. Aberlink’s flexible 3D metrology software package has been developed as a multi-platform solution, in addition to supporting both manual and CNC CMM’s, it can also be used on portable arms, vision systems, video machines and profile projectors.