Nottingham-based measurement solutions provider Status Metrology (www.status-cmm.co.uk) and original equipment manufacturer Hexagon are celebrating a 20-year partnership that helped pave the way for a ‘second-user’ machine market in the UK.

Status spotted a gap in the market in the late 1990s, and pitched the idea of becoming a supplier of retrofit ‘legacy’ CMMs alongside its established service and calibration operation to a number of OEMs.

Managing director Tony Tillett said: “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 to its present site at Sandiacre in 2006, Status has more than doubled its workforce and extended its client base beyond the UK to Ireland and parts of Europe.

As well as supplying second-user bridge, side-arm and gantry CMMs, it offers a selection of new machines, sensors and Hexagon’s PC-DMIS inspection software. It has sold more than 500 software seat licences and trained over 2,000 people.

Mr Tillett added: “Although it’s 20 years since we began working together, we continue to value our unique partnership. It keeps us at the forefront of the latest measurement solutions and technology.”

In recent months, Status has secured a series of new contracts, including a request from local machining and fabrication business CNTL to update its quality control equipment (following contracts from Rolls-Royce, Bombardier and JLR).

A fully refurbished bridge CMM — retrofitted with a Hexagon RC1 controller, jog box and PC-DMIS software — now enables CNTL to inspect larger parts and multiple smaller parts more efficiently.

Steve Rawson, CNTL’s managing director, said: “Our budget didn’t quite justify a brand-new PC-DMIS-powered CMM, so the Status solution was ideal.

“It means we have a future-proof hardware package with the flexibility of being able to add different sensor technology at a later date.”