Nottingham-based Status spotted the gap in the market in the late 1990s and pitched the idea of becoming a supplier of retrofit legacy CMMs alongside their established service and calibration operation to a number of OEMs.
Explains Status Metrology's managing director Tony Tillett: "We spoke to all the manufacturers but it was only with Brown & Sharpe, which was later acquired by Hexagon, that we found synergy. They shared our vision that there were opportunities for upgrading machines.”
Since moving from Beeston in 2006 to their present site at Sandiacre, Status have more than doubled their workforce and extended their client base beyond the UK to Ireland and parts of Europe.
As well as supplying second user bridge, sidearm and gantry CMMs, Status also offer a selection of new machines, sensors and Hexagon's PC-DMIS inspection software. They have sold more than 500 software seat licenses and trained over 2,000 candidates in its operation.
David Brown, Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence's UK general manager, says their relationship with Status demonstrated why collaborative partnerships were vital to long-term business success.
In recent months, Status have secured a series of new contracts including an order from CNTL, a local machining and fabrication business, which needed to update their quality control equipment after winning more work from Rolls-Royce, Bombardier and JLR.
A fully-refurbished bridge CMM, retrofitted with a Hexagon RC1 controller, jog box and PC-DMIS software, has been installed, enabling CNTL to inspect larger parts and multiple smaller components more efficiently.
