Measurement Terms

PMI

What is "PMI"?

• PMI stands for Product Manufacturing Information.
  It includes materials and other essential information required for manufacturing a product, added directly to a 3D CAD model (see Figure 1).
• A 3D model with structural characteristics such as dimensions, notes, quantities, and other annotations is referred to as a 3D Annotated Model (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Why is CAD Data with PMI Essential?

Sharing 3D data embedded with product manufacturing information across departments and with suppliers provides the following key benefits:

• Adding design intent and evaluation details facilitates faster and more effective interaction with suppliers.
• Streamlined information sharing and collaboration improves process efficiency, lower costs, and enhance product quality.
• Enables seamless management of global supply chains.

Figure 2

Utilizing CAD Data with PMI for Measurement

Recent advancements in software, such as Mitutoyo's MiCAT Planner, enable automatic reading of tolerance information from 3D models with PMI. These tools can determine measurement locations and generate measurement procedures automatically, specifically for CNC 3D measuring machines (see Figure 3).

Advantages of implementation:

• Measurement procedures can be prepared before the first processed product is finished, significantly shortening the lead time for mass production preparation.
• Fully automated creation of measurement procedures reduces programming time dramatically and simplifies the handling of diverse product types.
• Automatically generated procedures optimize the measurement path and probe orientation changes, enabling efficient and streamlined measurements.

Figure 3

Note: The screenshots shown are from the Japanese version of MiCAT Planner. If you would like to see the English version, please contact us using the button below.

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