Experiences of a Metrologic Dealer The UK’s Leading Range of 3D Measurement & SPC Solutions

Measurement Solutions Measurement Solutions was formed in 1998 after 6 years as Managing Director of CE Johansson in the UK ( joined CEJ originally in 1989 ) Johansson started to use Metrolog software ~1996 (Jowin) as the standard software for new CMM’s Earliest version – Metrolog II v.1.38 (on floppy disks !) We now have 5 people ; 1 Manager 1 Full-time Sales Engineer 1 Applications / Service Engineer 1 Full-time Service Engineer 1 Administration We are advertising right now for 2 more people All 4 engineers have the ability to provide sales & applications support

Measurement Solutions We are based in Peterborough, approx. 1 hour North of London Our office includes a busy demo room with ; CNC CMM with PH10 plus TP20 and SP25 Kreon Laser Scanner Handyscan3D Handheld Laser Scanner Faro Platinum and Silver Arms Modular Fixture Systems Photogrammetry System We have an agreement with Faro such that we can loan a Faro laser tracker for demonstrations A dedicated training room with 6 PC work stations Expected turnover in 2007/2008 > €1million Approx. 25% of turnover is CMM service, training & support

Measurement Solutions Measurement Solutions became the UK Dealer for Metrologic Group in 1998 Our product range was Metrolog II – that’s all we had ! We have worked with Metrologic Group as it has grown into the company we all know now, with a strong product range ; Metrolog XG Silma XG Metrolog V5 Silma V5  -Log XG Metrologic CMM controllers and hardware

Measurement Solutions In addition to Metrologic products, Measurement Solutions also offers a range of products / services ; QDAS SPC Software Handyscan3D handheld laser scanners Kreon laser scanners Used CMM’s New CMM’s - AEH (China) EasyFix modular fixtures Aicon Photogrammetry CMM Calibration and Service The product line may appear to be big for a small company, but ALL products have one common link ….. ….. They all work in some way with Metrologic software !

The UK Market

The UK market is extremely competitive, with too many players trying to sell into a market that is reducing in size What software do we see in the UK market ? Hexagon - PC-DMIS Metris - CAMIO, STUDIO Wenzel - Metromec, Open DMIS Delcam – PowerInspect Zeiss - Calypso Other OEM software e.g. Virtual DMIS, Cosmos Others – Axel, CMM Manager, Origin, CappsNT, Aberlink The UK market is driven by hardware manufacturers – customers buy hardware with software, not software for hardware i.e. they prefer to buy hardware AND software from the same supplier The market is driven by PRICE – discounting is expected and it is unusual to get an order without some discount being offered

How We Compete We have to accept that we cannot compete on price ; Lower profit margins Reduces the “value” of our products The big OEM’s will drop prices significantly to win orders We offer excellent levels of service and have built a family of very happy customers ; High quality training High levels of expertise – know your product Excellent product support – be there with help and advice Provide solutions – be able to offer hardware solutions as well as software Make alliances – have good working relationships with other key players e.g. Faro Build a strong reputation within your own customer base

How We Compete We know from experience that the competition provide bad service ; The average wait for a service callout with Hexagon is 2-3 weeks If you call the “warm-line”, you always have to wait for a call back Check out any of the internet forums for “happy” customers ; You won’t find entries for Metrolog – they are all happy customers ! Make sure your existing customer base receives high levels of service High levels of service can bring added value - ~70% of licences in UK have maintenance contracts !

Demonstrate to Win How We Prepare and Handle A Metrolog Demonstration

Demonstrate to Win Before arranging a demonstration, make sure you know exactly what the customer wants to do with the software Be prepared to customise the demo to suit his needs and application If at all possible ; Use his equipment (use the “Detector” application) Use his parts and CAD data Only use a “demo block” to demonstrate specific functions where the customer’s part is not suitable or does not have the right features Make sure you visit before the demo to test the interface, check connections, etc. Insist on using your own PC – make sure it has lots of memory and is reliable !

Demonstrate to Win At the demo, ask the customer for 30 minutes before the demo ; Prepare the interface connection Check machine speeds – make sure the machine runs smoothly, and at least as fast as it does with the old software Set up the MASTER reference sphere location Qualify the probe head to run an automatic calibration If possible, import the CAD file in advance

Start the demo by NOT showing them Metrolog Instead, start the Setup Assistant Demonstrate to Win Show the user the list of direct connections available Explain that they can use the same software with any device Tell them that they can buy ANY CMM in the future, unlike our competitors who will effectively “force” you to buy their equipment Explain that if they have service issues in the future, we can offer a relatively easy hardware upgrade and they will still be able to run their existing programs Did You Know … No other software has a list of machine connections like Metrolog

Optimise software performance by making best use of graphics hardware Demonstrate to Win Also use the Setup Assistant to show the user how we can ; Use multiple devices in the same measuring session Select a variety of probing systems including specialist OEM equipment Select the use of laser scanners Error map the machine removing the need for expensive OEM calibration services Now you are ready to start the demo … Did You Know … Delcam PowerInspect has no option to error map or adjust a machine’s accuracy

Demonstrate to Win Start by calibrating probes ; Have a probe file ready, and run the automated probe calibration Explain that there is no need to build up probes (like PCDMIS) – the software is automatic Show how easy it is to add probes Save the probe file and explain that even if the power fails, the probes are saved Show the user the automated backup – everyone has had Windows crash at some point ! Emphasise how quickly you can be ready to measure Did You Know … You can’t measure in PCDMIS without defining the probe setup in detail and it only supports standard styli – you can’t make your own special stylus

Demonstrate to Win Don’t spend too much time doing simple manual measurements – this is a demo, not a training course ! Only use the blue demo block if you have to – we still haven’t found a company that makes blue blocks ! Did You Know … LK often use 2 screens for CMM demonstrations as 1 is not enough ! Highlight the easy to use interface including ; Dockable tool bars Customisable toolbars Split screen functions DRO functions (especially for manual devices) Special toolbar and status window for Laser Trackers

Demonstrate to Win As soon as possible, import the CAD file When importing the CAD file ; Show the ability to import multiple CAD models Highlight the list of CAD import options available e.g. CATIA, ProE, etc. Explain the filter options – we use the analogy of a complete aircraft, and the need to measure the light on the end of the wing Highlight the possibility to be able to import HUGE CAD files Did You Know … Most software needs “clean” CAD data Show the CAD Database panel ; Show the ability to easily manage CAD data Explain that we don’t need “clean” CAD data as we can deal with the problem in Metrolog - quickly create a layer, then hide it

Demonstrate to Win If possible, have a large set of CAD data available – we have managed to acquire complete car bodies for several cars Did You Know … Some softwares consider >50 Mbytes as “huge” ! Load the file(s) and show the customer the size of the data Include ALL files when displaying file size i.e. the SU3 files AND the original IGES files – it makes the files appear bigger and Metrolog appear faster ! Show the ability to handle multiple CAD file assemblies

Demonstrate to Win Try not to spend too much time showing specific details – keep the demo moving and interesting Only show the “sexy” items that will impress – customers have a limited ability to remember a demo ; The “GD&T Wizard” - does not require the user to understand GD&T symbols Highlight the array of alignment options, especially the flexibility of the best fit, including scaling, limitations and the ability to select restrictions on individual features Automatic CNC path generation – show the options available (a cylinder is often best so you can show the “thread” function) Did You Know … PowerInspect can’t recall an alignment – you must recreate it each time

Demonstrate to Win ALWAYS show the reporting features of Metrolog Download the customer’s logo from their website and include when creating a simple report layout Have lots of sample report layouts using different logos and include pictures of parts on the report Explain the “Auto-sticker” feature – nobody else has this Use the function “Create all stickers” and point out that none of the sticker lines cross and that views have been automatically created – this always impresses ! Explain XG Office and how you can transfer data to an Excel spreadsheet automatically

Demonstrate to Win At the start of the demonstration, open the Program window, click Record, then hide it again Part way through the demo, open the window again and show that everything has been recorded – easy ! Copy the start of a program, then paste it into a new program – see how easy it is to manipulate programs ! Use the Grouping function to make a program easier to read Did You Know … If you need to edit a program in PowerInspect it is quicker to start again from the beginning !

Demonstrate to Win When competing with PCDMIS ; Have a sample GM2 program and the “same” program in DMIS (this is what the user will see when using PCDMIS) – ask them which is easier to understand Invest in a printed copy of the DMIS standard, and tell the customer he needs to know this to use DMIS – it’s big, it’s heavy and it usually works ! VERY HEAVY

Demonstrate to Win At every demonstration, create a customer folder in a central “CMM Parts” folder When opening / saving files, make sure a list of customer names is seen in the Explorer window – leave the window on the screen long enough for the customer to see lots of names This always impresses, even if they are not actually customers !

Demonstrate to Win At the end of the demonstration, with any luck the computer has not crashed ! If there is no crash, make sure you point this out to the customer Did You Know … It is normal for PCDMIS to crash during a demo – most users do not use the latest version due to instability

Point Clouds Point cloud analysis is definitely the next BIG THING Traditional cloud software (Geomagic, etc.) has limitations ; Only good for comparing to nominal CAD – without CAD, they are next to useless A post process – when you finish measuring, you still don’t have a result as the data needs to be processed Require the whole part to be scanned Did You Know … Geomagic can’t generate a report if the point cloud is not compared to nominal CAD data Metrolog is able to use point cloud data “on-the-fly” and extract measurements in real-time Metrolog does not need nominal CAD data to generate results Metrolog only needs to scan the areas of the part where measurements are actually required

Point Clouds Be aware that PowerInspect appears to have some strong point cloud functionality They also have some nice features that we don’t have in Metrolog This is probably our biggest competition for  -Log, NOT Geomagic etc. The good news … … none of our traditional competitors i.e. PCDMIS have point cloud functionality ! … and Metrolog is probably the only solution for laser scanning with a CNC CMM

CMM Service - Use Every Opportunity We offer a service to verify the accuracy of portable arms (equivalent to ISO10360) The service is one day, on site (Faro require the user to send the arm to a service centre, taking 2-3 weeks) Our engineer always uses Metrolog for the verification This way, the customer sees a demonstration of Metrolog … … and pays us to provide the demo ! When servicing machines with other software, our engineer always shows  -Log or Metrolog to users USE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW THE SOFTWARE TO CUSTOMERS AND GENERATE NEW LEADS !

Maintenance Contracts ALWAYS try to sell software maintenance contracts The majority of UK licences have a valid maintenance contract Offer the maintenance as a standard part of the quotation – not as an additional option If the user wants to remove it from the quotation, it is his decision to reject maintenance Sell the benefits – don’t emphasise the “penalties” of not having maintenance ; 2 new releases every year Telephone and applications support New Windows drivers with each release – this is VITAL now that many PC’s have automatic Windows updates Updates for new processor types, graphics cards, etc.

Use the Internet >50% of all enquiries come to us via the Internet Keep your website up to date Register on search engines – Google, Yahoo, etc.

Conclusions When demonstrating Metrolog, you have a limited time to impress – use the time wisely and prepare well Try to use the customer’s parts for the demo – you must know your product and be confident Have the possibility to show Metrolog on a variety of measuring devices ; Beg, steal or borrow a portable arm, laser tracker, etc. Practice, practice, practice ! Show the products at every opportunity ; Make sure your service engineers can give a basic demo If they can’t, use the demo CD If you know any weak points about the competition, spread the word and tell the rest of us !

Experiences of a Metrologic Dealer Thank You … and Good Luck !