Manufacturers constantly face the challenge of maintaining consistent quality in high-volume production. Traditional quality control methods are becoming outdated due to inefficiencies, reliance on manual labor, subjective assessments, tooling obstructions, and human error. In additive manufacturing, the challenges of complex geometries, tight tolerances, and scalability demands make quality control even more difficult. AM-Flow aims to solve this with fully automated, lights-out production powered by cutting-edge technology. 

This article explores AM-Quality, the world’s first in-line quality control solution, designed to provide the speed, precision, and scalability at the heart of AM-Flow’s vision.

Understanding AM-Quality: Revolutionizing In-Line Quality Control

Technology Overview

AM-Quality is a cutting-edge automated quality control solution designed to transform the traditional approach to in-line inspections. It utilizes eight high-speed 3D Laser Line Profile Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMMs) that enable the system to perform comprehensive 3D scans of parts within seconds, capturing precise geometric details with high accuracy. The scanned data is compared to nominal digital files such as STL, STEP, or CAD models to ensure that every produced component meets its intended specifications.

AM-Quality's technology is ISO 10360-13 standards compliant, which guarantees the operational accuracy of its measurements. This ISO standard specifically outlines test procedures and accuracy verification for coordinate measuring machines that operate with non-contact probing systems, ensuring reliability in capturing high-precision measurements. Adherence to ISO 10360-13 further reinforces AM-Quality's capability to meet rigorous quality assurance benchmarks across diverse industrial applications and manufacturing environments. A key metric that demonstrates the system's accuracy is PSize.Sph.All = 50µm, indicating its spherical accuracy within a tolerance of just 50 micrometers. Similarly, the system achieves a spherical precision of Pform.Sph.D95% = 130µm and a planar precision of DForm.Pla.D95% = 130µm.

Along with its rapid scanning and comparison capabilities, AM-Quality integrates with Hexagon's VG Suite to enhance morphological assessments. This integration enables precise defect detection and dimensional verification, ensuring that the geometries meet strict quality standards. Moreover, AM-Quality offers the flexibility to perform parametric evaluations using customizable templates, allowing manufacturers to define and automate quality metrics tailored to specific production requirements. AM-Quality reduces the reliance on manual intervention by automating these complex quality assessments, enabling manufacturers to achieve consistent, high-volume quality control with high efficiency.

How It Works

AM-Quality's system employs a non-invasive scanning approach that eliminates the need for complex subject mounting or manual adjustments, significantly reducing dependency on labor-intensive procedures. The system operates in continuous motion, utilizing high-resolution sensors to capture dense point cloud data of each part from multiple angles. This method ensures complete spherical scans without segmentation or interruptions, resulting in a high-fidelity 3D representation of the part's surface.

Once the point cloud is generated, advanced processing algorithms refine the data, filtering out noise and aligning multiple scans to create a unified digital model. The system then applies heat map visualizations to identify deviations from nominal specifications, providing an intuitive representation of dimensional variations, surface defects, or geometric inconsistencies. These visuals allow manufacturers to quickly assess part quality, identify defects, and make informed decisions on necessary adjustments.

Moreover, integrated algorithms analyze the captured morphology and parametric data, detecting deviations beyond acceptable tolerances. algorithms not only detect deviations from nominal specifications but also provide actionable plans for the quality metrics of each part. 

Key Operational Metrics

AM-Quality’s system ensures full coverage, leaving no details unchecked, by utilizing a strategically positioned array of eight high-resolution scanners out of which four are mounted above the inspection area and four below a glass plate. The lower scanners that operate through a transparent glass plate have an unobstructed view of the underside of each part without the need for repositioning. This configuration enables simultaneous top and bottom scanning and ensures a complete and uniform point cloud generation in a single pass. Also, by eliminating blind spots and minimizing the need for multiple scan cycles, the system delivers a comprehensive assessment of each part’s morphology, geometry, and surface integrity with high precision.

The system operates with exceptional speed, achieving a takt-time of just seconds per part that allows it to scan and access up to 720 products per hour, enabling rapid evaluation without compromising on thoroughness. It can scan products as small as 10x10x10mm up to 300x300x180mm. Moreover, the automated Pass/Fail determination streamlines decision-making by providing immediate feedback on the quality of each part. AM Quality also offers the flexibility of optional user intervention for scenarios requiring additional scrutiny.

Advantages of AM-Quality

Technical and Operational Benefits

One of the most significant advantages of AM-Quality is its ability to perform rapid, high-volume quality inspections that allow manufacturers to maintain stringent quality standards without sacrificing efficiency. This capability is crucial in environments where speed and accuracy are non-negotiable.

AM-Quality provides real-time, automated feedback loops that significantly minimize the risk of defective parts continuing down the production line. The system enables immediate corrective actions by detecting deviations at the earliest possible stage, preventing non-conforming parts from reaching later assembly or distribution stages. This proactive approach reduces waste, lowers the likelihood of costly recalls, and ensures that only fully compliant parts progress through the workflow, leading to a more cost-effective production process.

Moreover, AM-Quality offers highly customizable quality parameters to accommodate diverse production requirements. Users can define and adjust specific metrics such as roundness, diameters, surface profiles, and feature dimensions within parametric measurement templates, enabling manufacturers to standardize evaluations across high-volume production runs. AM-Quality allows manufacturers to create and apply standardized measurement templates, ensuring that inspection criteria are consistent across production runs. This feature is valuable for parts with intricate geometries or tight tolerances, as it reduces variability and enhances repeatability in quality assessments.

Objective and Reliable Assessments

Objective and reliable assessments are a necessity in high-volume manufacturing environments where consistency is a critical parameter. Traditional quality control methods often rely on subjective visual inspections or human intervention, AM-Quality, on the other hand, utilizes numerical-based metrics to ensure precise and uniform results across all inspected parts. This objectivity eliminates the variability and potential inaccuracies introduced by human error and enhances the reliability of quality assessments.

Moreover, AM-Quality provides comprehensive metrology reports for every part produced. These reports comprise detailed measurements and a complete record of each product's compliance with quality standards. This feature of AM-Quality supports internal quality assurance processes and equips manufacturers with the traceability and proof required for audits or client reviews. Additionally, these reports can be customized to align with specific customer standards, ensuring that manufacturers meet industry-specific compliance requirements and client expectations.

Integration Capabilities

Another advantage of AM-Quality lies in its integration capabilities, due to which it can operate smoothly within existing manufacturing ecosystems. For instance, it is designed to be compatible with Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms, allowing quality control data to be directly linked to the corresponding part file. This integration ensures that each scanned part's inspection results are automatically associated with its production history, enabling real-time tracking, traceability, and simplified decision-making within the broader production workflow.

Providing real-time insights into these systems enables manufacturers to achieve continuous quality improvement, using actionable data to optimize processes, enhance efficiency, and address potential issues proactively. This interconnected approach integrates quality control with operational strategy, letting manufacturers make data-driven decisions that drive long-term success.

AM-Quality's Broad Applications

For Traditional Manufacturing

Traditional manufacturing, including subtractive (e.g., CNC machining) and formative (e.g., injection molding, casting) processes, benefits significantly from AM-Quality's sophisticated quality control capabilities. The technology transcends industry-specific limitations by offering versatile applicability across diverse manufacturing sectors and part configurations.

For subtractive manufacturing, AM-Quality ensures that machined components meet precise geometric tolerances. In formative manufacturing, where mold precision and repeatability are crucial, AM-Quality verifies part consistency across high-volume production runs, identifying defects such as warping, shrinkage, or incomplete fills. AM-Quality's ability to rapidly evaluate larger sample sizes enables manufacturers to implement more comprehensive quality checks without sacrificing operational efficiency.

For Additive Manufacturing

Ensuring compliance with tight tolerances is crucial in additive manufacturing due to the complexity of geometries and intricate designs. AM-Quality addresses this need by offering a highly precise, automated solution that verifies dimensional accuracy and morphological integrity. Hence, by using AM-Quality, manufacturers can confidently scale their AM operations and maintain the consistency required in industrial applications.

AM-Quality also enhances process optimization by integrating smoothly into production workflows. For example, by performing scans at key stages—either before or after a process step—it can detect defects early, allowing manufacturers to take preventative action before minor issues escalate into costly errors.

Commercial and Financial Benefits

Guaranteed Quality at Scale

In high-volume manufacturing, ensuring consistent quality across every part produced is both a challenge and a necessity. AM-Quality addresses this challenge with its automated, high-precision inspection processes to achieve consistency in the outputs, which ultimately translates to better quality and commercially trusted products. Moreover, AM-Quality's ability to generate comprehensive documentation for each part ensures audit readiness and enhances traceability, making it easier for manufacturers to comply with strict industry standards and maintain customer trust.

Quality as a Revenue Driver

Quality is not just a technical necessity; it is also a powerful driver of revenue. AM-Quality helps manufacturers deliver superior products by significantly reducing defect rates that enhance customer satisfaction, and strengthen brand reputation. This ripple effect extends to operational efficiency as well, where fewer defects cause lower rework requirements, optimized production timelines, and increased throughput. Additionally, by minimizing defects and ensuring consistent compliance with specifications, AM-Quality helps manufacturers lower their non-conformance rate, reducing costly production errors and improving overall process reliability. These improvements position manufacturers to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Cost-Effective Quality Control

Traditional quality control methods often come with steep labor costs and the risk of costly recalls or production downtime due to undetected errors. As AM-Quality eliminates these inefficiencies by automating the inspection process, reducing the dependency on manual labor and minimizing human error, it prevents expensive recalls and ensures smooth, uninterrupted operations, offering manufacturers a more cost-effective and reliable path to high-quality production.

Potential Use Cases and Real-World Implementation

High-Mix, High-Volume Quality Assessment

In manufacturing environments characterized by diverse product ranges and high output volumes, achieving consistent quality assessments is often challenging. AM-Quality can be effectively used in such environments as it excels in these scenarios by providing a fast, automated system for evaluating parts with precision and objectivity. For instance, its ability to perform accurate inspections across varied geometries and designs makes it particularly valuable in 3D printing, where maintaining uniformity across diverse components is essential for operational success.

However, AM-Quality is not limited to high-mix, high-volume production. It is equally effective in low-mix, high-volume environments, where maintaining rapid throughput without sacrificing precision is critical. Moreover, for high-value, low-volume products like aerospace or medical components, AM-Quality ensures that each part adheres to quality requirements, providing traceability and documentation essential for regulatory compliance.

Enhanced Data Accessibility and Proof of Quality

AM-Quality offers robust evidence of both dimensional accuracy and optical quality by capturing and storing detailed metrics and point cloud data. This data, when combined with complementary imaging solutions like AM-Vision, creates a complete record that manufacturers can use to ensure transparency and accountability. Such records streamline internal audits and provide verifiable proof of quality for external stakeholders, reinforcing trust and compliance.

Parametric Measurement Templates for Consistency

For production runs involving identical parts, AM-Quality introduces a level of efficiency and uniformity through its customizable parametric measurement templates. These templates standardize the quality control process, allowing manufacturers to apply consistent evaluation criteria across large batches. Automating OK/Not OK decisions allows AM-Quality to accelerate quality checks while ensuring that all parts meet predefined specifications, helping manufacturers maintain high standards and consistency.

Additionally, AM-Quality provides access to detailed point cloud data, allowing manufacturers to conduct deeper analysis when needed. This capability enables engineers to investigate deviations beyond pass/fail outcomes, facilitating root cause analysis, trend monitoring, and continuous process optimization. This granular data helps manufacturers to make data-driven improvements to enhance quality consistency and refine production processes over time.

Future Prospects and Broader Impact

AM-Quality is a significant step toward realizing AM-Flow's vision of fully digital, autonomous production lines. It enables a shift toward lights-out manufacturing—where processes operate independently with minimal human intervention. This not only enhances efficiency but also opens ways for further innovations in automated systems and for even greater levels of precision and productivity in the future.

Moreover, the adoption of solutions like AM-Quality signals a shift in manufacturing paradigms, where AI-powered automation reshapes traditional practices. Along with its immediate operational benefits, AM-Quality can contribute to a broader movement toward smarter and more sustainable production ecosystems, which aligns with global efforts to create greener, more adaptive manufacturing environments.

Conclusion

AM-Quality is redefining how manufacturers approach quality control. It combines speed, precision, and scalability to allow production lines to operate with excellent efficiency and reliability. AM-Quality doesn't just meet the demands of modern manufacturing—it transforms them, setting a new benchmark for quality assurance in both additive and traditional workflows.

For manufacturers seeking to stay ahead in a competitive market, exploring the benefits of in-line automated quality control is a vital step forward. The journey toward smarter, more sustainable manufacturing begins with embracing cutting-edge solutions like AM-Quality. To begin your journey and learn more about AM-Flow's revolutionary technologies and how they can elevate your production capabilities, visit their website or contact their team for further details.

References

1. AM-Quality. [Online], Available at: https://am-flow.com/products/am-quality/ (Accessed on January 21, 2025)

2. AM-Quality. In-line flow product sheet. [Online], Available at:  https://am-flow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Product-sheet-A5-AM-Quality.pdf (Accessed on January 21, 2025)

3. AM-QUALITY - The world's first in-line quality control solution. [Online], Available at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys9d_QX2COk (Accessed on January 21, 2025)

4. AM-Flow. [Online], Available at: https://am-flow.com/ (Accessed on January 21, 2025)