The rapidly expanding UK Company MSCM Ltd is a leading manufacturer of offshore hydraulic distribution equipment, servicing the Oil and Gas Industry worldwide. MSCM’s busy R&D department has enabled the development of a comprehensive range of high precision components that are used within the demanding Subsea Controls market. The company’s wide-ranging series of quality products now includes SCM manifolds, ROV lockdown components, Stabplates, Gas Lift Couplings, Valves and Solenoids.
To help avoid a potential bottleneck within the company’s busy Inspection Department, MSCM Inspection Supervisor, Kevin Fitzpatrick recently compared the merits of the available large capacity, high specification, CNC Coordinate Measuring Machines. After investigating the alternatives, and receiving demonstrations from several leading CMM Maufacturers, Kevin found the answer to his demanding requirements in the Zenith too CMM from leading UK manufacturer Aberlink Innovative Metrology.
Although MSCM’s advanced new Aberlink CMM was only recently installed, it is already making a significant contribution to speeding-up the company’s inspection Department and to ensuring the continued supply of high quality components to its long list of Blue chip, Oil and Gas Industry customers.
Kevin Fitzpatrick enthused, “As we are currently ramping-up our production levels to satisfy growing global demand, it became clear that we needed a large capacity CMM that could keep pace with the considerable increase in our output. Our new Aberlink Zenith too has a measuring envelope of 1000mm x 1.5mm x 800mm, this generous capacity makes it suitable, not only for our existing components, but ensures that the machine remains ‘future proof’ when we launch larger products. The impressive speed of our new CMM’s automatic inspection routines has substantially reduced inspection times across our product range and has considerably improved the capability of MSCM’s Inspection Department.
“Our Quality Control staff have found the Aberlink software extremely easy to use, enabling them to quickly create multiple part-programmes. Despite the machine’s ease of use and Aberlink’s comprehensive training, on the rare occasion that we have needed help, a telephone call to Aberlink’s technical department has provided a rapid answer to our problem.
​ “The working environment our products operate within dictate that we carry out 100% inspection on all critical features. As we supply our customers with relevant certification guaranteeing the integrity of our manufactured components, it is extremely useful to us that the Zenith too is also able to generate comprehensive, easy to follow inspection reports.”

Offering the industry’s best performance to cost ratio for this class of machine, Aberlink’s Zenith too CMM series consists of 10 machines with XYZ capacities ranging from 1000x1000x600 – 1000x3000x800. The new range’s cutting edge all aluminium construction, advanced drive design and raised guide-ways ensures that despite a generous measuring envelope, the machines’ extremely low inertia characteristics guarantees supreme speed of operation.
Although the new Aberlink series is perfectly suited to use within environmentally controlled inspection environments, it is on the shop floor where the Zenith too range’s low thermal mass and extremely robust characteristics come to the fore, enabling the accurate measurement of large components to take place nearer to the manufacturing area.
The impressive hardware of the new Zenith too is complemented by the range’s intuitive Windows based software. A welcome bi-product of any Zenith too 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 off as required. In essence Aberlink’s ‘smart’ software represents an intelligent measuring system that is able to automatically recognise and define the various features being measured. Aberlink 3D is the easiest to use CMM software currently available, so much so, that a complete novice is usually able to perform relatively involved measurement routines after just 5 minutes training.
​ Aberlink supply a complete Zenith too ‘turn-key’ package, including a comprehensive training programme, a wide choice of motorised or manual probes, Aberlink’s celebrated 3D software and not least the latest generation of high speed custom controllers, that are capable of generating true, three dimensional contours. 

Used throughout the company’s range of products, Aberlink’s 3D Windows based, intuitive software, was designed purposefully around a graphical interface, unlike comparable packages with graphics that can best be described as a software simultaneous picture of the measured component is created on the computer screen. Dimensions between the measured features, mirroring those that appear on the component drawing, are then picked off as required. In essence Aberlink’s ‘smart’ software represents an intelligent measuring system that is able to automatically recognise and define the various features being measured. Aberlink 3D is the easiest to use CMM software currently available, so much so, a complete novice is usually able to perform relatively involved measurement routines after just 5 minutes training.

Impressed by the Axiom too’s easy to use software and the machine’s fast CNC
capability, Steve Bower, Manufacturing Manager at Norton Motorcycles machining facility said. “We are rapidly increasing production and working around the clock to meet order books for the 961 Commandos. When the Aberlink CMM arrived we had a backlog of parts to inspect, but because the machine’s software is extremely user friendly, it took very little time to create all the required inspection programs. As our Axiom too is a full CNC machine, we can now simply put follow-on batches of parts on to the machine bed and they are inspected automatically, and when checking smaller components, we are able to load multiple parts at one time. Although I have little previous experience of programming a CMM, I have been amazed at how quickly I have been able to master even relatively complicated measuring procedures. Aberlink’s 3D software creates it’s own programmed path and a model of the part as you measure it, the program generated by the software can then be ran as a conventional CMM program. In additional to being an invaluable tool for the development of prototype work, the Axiom too is incredibly versatile and takes almost no programming time at all, making it the perfect inspection tool for our Manufacturing facility.”