Repeat five-axis batches for a European surgical-robotics OEM — first-article inspection on every run, CMM reports with every shipment. Anonymized at the customer's request.
| Customer | European surgical-robotics OEM (anonymized) |
| Parts | Robot-joint housings, instrument-link components |
| Materials | 6061-T6 / 7075 aluminum, 316L stainless |
| Process | 5-axis machining, ±0.003 mm grade |
| Verification | 100% FAI, Zeiss CONTURA CMM report per shipment |
| Status | Repeat batches on a fixed weekly schedule |
Robot-joint components concentrate every hard thing about machining in one small part: multi-face geometry, mating datums that define the joint's backlash, cosmetic surfaces on a device that lives in operating rooms, and a customer quality system that audits every claim. Quantities were modest per release but unforgiving in regularity — the schedule cannot slip because a batch is "only" fifty pieces.
The parts were programmed for five-axis machining centers to reach the ±0.003 mm grade in as few setups as possible — every re-clamp is a stacked error on a mating feature. First-article inspection is run at 100% on every batch, not just the first order, with the report traveling with the shipment. Material certs and heat-lot traceability accompany the stock through the floor, so the customer's device-history file links seamlessly to ours. When their engineering team revised a joint housing, the DFM loop ran before the revised PO — one change to a datumed face that saved a re-fixture operation entirely.
Releases now run on a fixed weekly schedule with first-article pass on submission as the normal state, not the exception. The customer's auditors visited the floor and walked the same path this page describes: stock traceability, in-process checks, Zeiss CONTURA final verification, reports filed per shipment. The program's value isn't one heroic tolerance — it's that hundreds of small batches behave like one predictable process.
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