Intermet Puts Customers in the Driver's Seat With New Digital Radiography

DETROIT, April 14 -- Using digital technologies, Intermet Corporation has taken component radiography to a new, advanced level, giving its customers more complete and timely images of their parts and a versatile tool for analyzing them.

Digital radiography at Intermet's Columbus Foundry in Columbus, Ga., is an all-around benefit, supporting quality and process improvement as well as the clients' own engineering effort. Intermet customers can also count on improvements in data management and image analysis.

"We can also turn out many more exposures in a given amount of time, and we can do this at a lower cost," said Art Clark, technical director, Columbus Foundry, Intermet Corp.

The new approach also puts customers in the driver's seat, letting them manipulate imaging tools and zero in on precisely the aspect of the component that is important to them.

The process facilitates quality checks and the validation of the ductile iron parts that Intermet produces for its customers. X-ray examination is essential for all safety-related parts, but the new digital technology both reduces costs and boosts its versatility.

First used in the medical industry, digital radiography has replaced a film-based x-ray system at the foundry. Intermet's new imaging system ranks among the most advanced currently used in manufacturing and is capable of 50 micron scans.

Like conventional systems, the new process still uses x-rays to look inside the iron part, but instead of acquiring and storing the image on film, it creates a digital file. Once it is in that form, a new world of part analysis and information retrieval opens up to both Intermet and its customers.

In virtually every instance, customers are now getting more - and more valuable - information. Much of it would have been mostly inaccessible to processes relying on film x-ray records. In some cases, the current level of data could only have been obtained with multiple x-ray film exposures at great expense.

Due to the digital process's lower cost, Intermet can meet many special requests easily and cost effectively, passing on the savings to customers. In many cases, a customer's needs now can be met with the digital radiography process's built-in flexibility, so it may not need to make a special request in the first place.

For example, customers can check parts themselves. "They can look at a part, actually zoom in on a portion of it, apply filters and other tools, and manipulate their view of it," said Pete Hautt, testing manager, Columbus Foundry, Intermet Corp.

And since archiving is digital as well, Intermet can retrieve the files quickly and provide the files to the customer on a DVD.

There are also advantages for Intermet and its employees. There is no longer a need for voluminous files full of film or for the chemicals used to develop x-ray film. The amount of radiation used per exposure is also less.

About Intermet: Founded in 1846, Intermet Corporation is a leading manufacturer of cast-metal components for the automotive, commercial-vehicle and industrial markets. With approximately 2,000 employees, the company is organized into three distinct manufacturing groups: Die Cast, Ferrous and PCPC(TM). More information is available on the Internet at www.intermet.com .