Delta Research Corp. (www.delrecorp.com/) was founded by a former automotive transmission engineer, Alex Sakuta, in 1952, and has built a reputation as a precision parts manufacturer with the vision to make the investments in advanced manufacturing technology required to produce powertrain components.
An entrepreneurial, familyoriented company, Delta Research continues to use many of the engineering and manufacturing philosophies put into place by its founders, and one of those perspectives is that all granite CMMs are the sturdiest CMM machines and provide the most accurate and most repetitive measuring capability.
For that reason, when Delta Research of Livonia, Mich., purchased its first CMMs 20 years ago, the company bought a Federal CMM. It later added another, albeit pre-owned. Most recently, it added a new Wenzel LH 12.20.10 CMM to its operations.
“If you studied the design of CMMs you will discover that many of the older machines, those built with thick granite bases, are manufactured to a higher degree of precision than some of today’s new ones,” Robert Sakuta, president and son of the founder of Delta Research, said.
Sakuta said the granitebased machines have accuracy, but what changes and improves are the software and the controls that operate the machines.
“We rely heavily on our CMM measuring capabilities to insure the precision and consistent high quality of our gears and gearrelated products, which in many cases can be very sophisticated. At the same time, as an ISO 9001:2000 contract manufacturer, we have critical production and delivery schedules that have to be maintained,” he added.
So, Sakuta said he remains aware of improvement opportunities, and takes every opportunity he can to eliminate potential bottlenecks and, for his CMM operations, that means retrofitting machines with software upgrades.
That led him to work with Keith Mills, then-president of International Metrology Systems, and the Virtual DMIS software system, the forerunner to OpenDMIS software. Mills later formed Xspect Solutions, Inc. which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wenzel GmbH.
The relationship with Mills ultimately led Delta Research to purchase a Wenzel LH 10.20.10 bridge-type machine with OpenDMIS software and equipped with an SP25 Renishaw scanning probe that adds reverse engineering competency and in-depth analysis of critical features, Sakuta said.
Later, its sister company Tifco Gage and Gear also located in Livonia, Michigan, added a Wenzel Geartec WGT350 dedicated gear inspection machine to its metrology lab as well.
