Whether it’s parts for a bus, train or ship, Small Series and Prototype Production at ZF Friedrichshafen AG manufactures a wide range of driveline and chassis technology. What’s special about it? The batches have between one and 50 units and the requirements on the individual components are high. Prototypes must be quickly executable and functioning parts have to be sent to the customer at a moment’s notice. That’s why quality control is so vital in this line of work. Uwe Ersing is Head of Quality Control for small series and prototype production at Commercial Vehicles and Special Driveline Technology. He says: “Measurement programs are compiled centrally for series production. My staff have to compile new measurement programs on an ongoing basis and different requirements apply to different components. Gearboxes for marine technology, for instance, are subject to the regulations of the classification societies. This results in strict specifications for documenting measurements.” A total of 32 employees, 13 of them metrologists, are responsible for quality control. Mehmet Akol is one of them. For the last seven years he has been working in metrology and is motivated by the ever-changing requirements.

Ersing sees a great advantage to this type of further training: namely, standardizing quality inspections: “It’s important that our measurement programs are structured in the same way. Without such consistent training, ten metrologists measuring the same component could provide us with different measurement results.” The seminars offer a further benefit for quality assurance in small-series production: communication and teamwork with Production has improved dramatically as a result. If the measurement results are questioned in Production, the metrologists can explain them much better to their colleagues, and justify them, too. This has also enhanced teamwork between the two departments. It also means that metrologists are now involved in problem-solving more often in order to check where potential error sources could be. “Components and drawings are becoming increasingly complex. If a metrologist finds out that the measuring result is not OK, they will first take a close look at the result, and not the component. That’s what used to happen to me, too, and it’s why good communication is so vital. I work with my colleagues from the processing center to find an optimum solution,” says Akol.