Interview with Chris Schyttberg – Holje Mekaniska AB, Sweden

One of the aims of this blog is getting opinions about the checking fixtures sector from different points of view. Today, you can read an interview that we have had with Chris Schyttberg, general manager of Holje Mekaniska AB, a Swedish company specialised in the design and fabrication of checking fixtures of aluminium profiles for large parts. The function of this type of fixtures is as much checking parts as holding them for measurements by tridimensional machine.

Chris Schyttberg kindly accepted to answer a series of questions from the Measure Control team, and we would like to thank him very much for the time he dedicated to this interview.

Measure Control: What are the main qualities of a checking fixture?

Checking fixtures are the tools enabling to prove the quality of the parts produced by OEMs and their subonctracting companies. They are part of the ISO 9001 standard process, according to which the part manufacturing companies must be able to demonstrate that they comply with the production conditions and tolerances specified by the certification.

Measure Control: Do you think that checking fixtures are indispensable for the quality of your customers parts?

Yes, they are indispensable, since some of the checking fixtures must be used during the production process. The part manufacturing company must check first that each detail of each part being produced is correct, and then check that the part correctly fits to its surrounding parts once mounted on the vehicle. The aim of such verifications with checking fixtures is to detect quickly any failure in the production process. Consequently, checking fixtures are essential to get lower production costs.

Measure Control: What is the best checking fixture you ever produced? What is the worst one?

Our interior cubings are the best fixtures we can produce, and are the most appreciated among our customers, because they check all the interior parts and are very efficient to check the quality of the production process.
I have the example of one of my Chinese customers, who contacted me for the production of an interior cubing fixture because he had 98% of non conformities during his production process. Three weeks after he had received his checking fixture, his non-conformity rate was of 0%.

As for the worst checking fixtures we produce, they are usually the ones made for customers who do not know what they want; since they do not provide relevant information about the areas of the parts to be checked, and even less about the best method to use, you usually do not have enough elements to get a working and satisfactory checking fixture.

Bad results can also happen if the checking fixture is not made with stable enough elements, which triggers deformations and deviations of the fixture structure.

In order to avoid such failures, we, at Holje, apply a process to limit faults and check that the final product to be delivered to the customer corresponds to the initial quotation made for the project.

Measure Control: How important do you think the communication between a customer and his supplier is?

During all the process of the production of checking fixtures, the communication between a customer and his supplier are crucial, to avoid the failures mentionned before – see previous question -.

Measure Control: Which elements can prevent the realization of a checking fixture for a given part? (part complexity, number of unities produced, lack of budget, and so on)

There are usually two main reasons that can prevent a fixture from being produced. The first one is that our customer did not get the order from the OEM for the project for which the checking fixture was to be produced. In that case, the fixture is not needed anymore.

The second reason is that our customer does not have enough budget to afford the costs of the production of a checking fixture. To save money, the customer will then usually buy the necessary components to make the checking fixture by himself.

Yet, such a situation does not happen that often: our customers need to have good checking fixtures produced, because it is usually one of the OEM’s requirements.

Measure Control: Generally speaking, who takes on the cost of checking fixtures? Who takes on the cost of modifications, when there are some?

In most cases, the OEMS pays the checking fixture, or gives to the part manufacturing company some money to cover the costs of the checking fixture.

In case of a modification, if the modification is due to design changes, then the OEM will pay the modification. In other cases, it is usually the part manufacturing company, though this will depend on each case.

Measure Control: Is the part manufacturer (TIER1, TIER2, …) the only one to define the concept and design of the checking fixture, or does the final OEM also validate them?

It depends on the companies. A TIER1 sells his customer the whole service of parts production + quality; he is thus in charge of the design of the checking fixture. As for the other companies, each case is different: sometimes the OEM will participate to the design, sometimes not.

Measure Control: Which evolution and which improvements do you think checking fixtures will know over the coming years? And how will the producers of checking fixtures evolve according to you?

For the moment, there is no trend showing that the checking fixture market could decrease, since there is no real equivalent to checking fixtures for now.

It may be possible though that the production of gap and flush checking fixtures tend to go down, because now customers need to have the data of their part measurement on a computer. This tendency will thus lead to the development of electronic wireless sensors, that provide statistic data displayed on a computer.

Measure Control: Which technologies could replace checking fixtures on a short term? Do you think vision cameras could represent a substitute?

Vision cameras are not a real threat for checking fixtures yet, because their image resolution is not good enough for the moment. But in the future, with the improvement of the technology, it is very possible that cameras take over checking fixtures because they are quicker, and because measuring technologies will change and evolve.

Measure Control: Before working with Tecnomatrix, which vision did you have of Spanish companies? Have you changed your mind now?

I already had a good vision of Spanish companies, because I have already worked with a company based in Santander that is very good, because they have new techniques and are hard-working and friendly. Now that I work with Tecnomatrix, my opinion about Spanish companies is even better.