Perception is Reality in Automotive Gap and Flush
- Dawn Nibbe, Director Global Marketing
- Aug 9, 2016
- 3 min read
As an automotive manufacturer, you’re well aware: quality is key to your success. Beyond making vehicles with zero defects, you hope customers perceive the high quality of your vehicles as much as you do.
Yet, customers rely on their senses to judge vehicle quality and craftsmanship. In addition to seeking out that new-car smell, prospective buyers are paying attention to how your vehicles sound — and feel — when opening and closing doors, compartments and trunks; fastening straps; and driving. Are your customers complaining about vehicle squeaks and rattles, or excessive wind noise while cruising down the road?
Prospective buyers also notice how your vehicles look from far away, as well as up close. Do the trim pieces and door panels line up? Is there damage to neighboring parts? Or are there excessive gaps between parts or seal breaks? If so, customers might wonder if these issues could lead to poor closure, thereby causing water leaks, rust, upholstery damage or humidity in headlights.
Gap and Flush Influence on Perceived Quality
It’s clear: you can lose customers’ perceived quality in your vehicles within moments. The cause: poor fit and finish from issues related to gap and flush.
Gap and flush issues may not only change how customers perceive your vehicle quality for the worse, but also lead to costly problems and recalls. The good news: there’s a solution proven to help you solve gap and flush issues in a rapid, reliable and effective manner.
The Solution: CALIPRI Gap and Flush Gauge
A non-contact measurement device, CALIPRI makes it possible for you to measure any gap profile or body contour completely and with the accuracy your manufacturing firm depends on.
Conventional measuring devices only record gaps from one angle, leaving the software to make assumptions about the shape of the rest of the gap. As a result, profiles are incorrectly estimated — especially when working with difficult contours.
You could inadvertently produce superficial data that extrapolates 50 percent or more of the gap. And measurements of the same gap by different people can vary widely. This could leave you blind to curvatures that can quickly impact the vehicle’s structure, aesthetics and — ultimately — customer perception.
Perception (and now real data) is Reality
In contrast to most past measurement methods, from feeler gauges to profile measurement, CALIPRI ensures real — not extrapolated — data measurement of entire gap, flush and radius contours. Even the most difficult gaps allow accurate gap and flush quality control that measures up to original engineering design and customer standards.
How CALIPRI works
To achieve repeatable, reproducible measurement, the CALIPRI measuring gauge swivels. Simply hold it over the gap that needs measuring. While swiveling the device, three central laser lines continually record segments of the contour from various perspectives before combining them for a complete measurement based on real data.
Any tilting or twisting of the sensor is automatically compensated for by its patented tilt correction. Within seconds of taking the required measurement, the profile is then displayed on your tablet PC, along any other parameters you’d like to know.
CALIPRI Ease of Use
After making a few measurements with CALIPRI, you’ll find it’s just as easy to handle as conventional systems. And the measurement time is comparable too. The only significant difference? Your measurements are now truly exact.
Test Drive the CALIPRI Solution
Contact ASI DATAMYTE for a test drive of the CALIPRI solution specific to your automotive application and see how quickly you can improve your customers’ perceptions. Or, to talk to an expert about your specific gap and flush concerns, contact us at 1-800-455-4359.
Want to learn more the CALIPRI gap and flush solution for automotive manufacturers? Download a brochure or view a video about CALIPRI today.
Site: "Consumers’ Perceived Quality, Perceived Value and Perceived Risk Towards Purchase Decision on Automobile" American Journal of Economics & Business Administration 2010