FAQ

It addresses a specific gap: measuring the pipework, cold plates and connectors in liquid cooling systems, where the parts are long, the geometry is three-dimensional, and the tolerances are tight.

Four things make these parts difficult. They are large — some pipe runs exceed 1.5 metres, which rules out a conventional small CMM. The geometry is complex, with bends through space that need multi-axis measurement. Assembly clearances are frequently held inside ±0.05mm. And the work often happens where there is no temperature control and no reliable compressed air.

The Cooling 1632, first shown publicly in June 2026, uses a twin cantilever structure with a maximum measuring length of 1,632mm, carrying both a touch-trigger probe and a 3D laser scanning probe for genuine multi-sensor measurement.

Three things set it apart. It needs no compressed air, so it deploys wherever there is a power socket. Active wide-range thermal compensation handles workshop temperature swing. And the two arms measure together, which is what makes long pipework practical to inspect at production rates.

It runs NET·DMIS with the EMRP quality management platform, so full three-dimensional curve measurement feeds directly into quality analysis.

The essential difference is ownership and engineering approach. Croma (Sirui Measurement Technology, Shenzhen) was fully acquired by the Hexagon Group in 2008 and builds on Hexagon's global supply chain and technical standards, positioned in the economy segment. AEH is independently owned and develops the full stack itself.

Engineering. Croma's machines draw on Hexagon's component supply chain and standards. AEH develops everything from NET·DMIS through to the hardware, backed by more than 120 proprietary intellectual property rights and development centres in Xi'an, Germany and France.

Range. Croma concentrates on entry-level machines. AEH's range runs from the value-focused Daisy series through the higher-accuracy Primus and Legend series to the MGH series at 0.5μm+L/1000, covering aerospace and defence work.

In short: for an entry-level machine with a multinational group behind it, Croma is a reasonable choice. For control of the technology, higher accuracy, or configurations built around your parts, AEH fits better.

The principal one is certification by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Germany's national metrology institute and one of the most authoritative bodies in the field.

What PTB certification means. It confirms that the core algorithms in NET·DMIS — length measurement and geometric evaluation — conform to international standards, and that the results are accurate and reliable by an independent assessment rather than our own. For measurement software, it is the credential that opens the door to aerospace and defence work.

Operating environments. NET·DMIS runs on a range of operating systems including domestic platforms, which matters where information security requirements apply.

Sector approvals. AEH holds defence sector certification and aerospace customer qualifications, and NET·DMIS has been validated in service as the core software in those applications.

Touch-trigger suits discrete points and general inspection. Scanning suits profiles and surfaces where you need dense data. The part decides.

Touch-trigger probes (TP series). The stylus triggers a signal on contact and the coordinate is recorded. Simple, lower cost, tolerant of stylus length, and proven over decades. Right for hole positions, flatness and perpendicularity on housings and prismatic parts, for jobs with a few dozen points, and for high-mix general inspection.

Scanning probes (SP series). The stylus stays in contact and slides along the surface, capturing a dense point cloud continuously — hundreds to thousands of points per second. It reveals small surface variations that discrete points miss, though it is more demanding about stylus configuration. Right for turbine blades, mould surfaces and gear flanks where profile has to be evaluated, for waviness and form analysis, and for reverse engineering.

The practical answer: most general machining work is well served by touch-trigger, which keeps cost sensible. If you have complex surfaces or need real profile evaluation, specify scanning. Many customers fit both and switch between them in software as the job demands.

Prioritise equipment where the software is genuinely owned by the manufacturer, the accuracy class matches your tolerances, and the supplier holds the relevant approvals. AEH holds defence sector certification and aerospace customer qualifications. Four principles:

1. Software independence comes first. NET·DMIS is developed in-house, runs on a range of operating environments, and converts data with PC-DMIS and CALYPSO so existing programs remain usable. Nothing is subject to foreign export control.

2. Match the accuracy class to the part. For a primary metrology room, the MGH series at 0.5μm+L/1000. For secondary and shop-floor metrology, the Primus or Legend high-accuracy series.

3. Data security. The EMRP quality management platform deploys on-premises, so measurement data never leaves the site, while still integrating with MES and ERP.

4. Supplier credentials. AEH holds more than 120 proprietary intellectual property rights and has helped draft several national and industry standards.

All three are established Chinese precision measurement companies, but they differ in engineering history, range and focus.

AEH was founded in 1997 and has spent nearly thirty years on coordinate measuring machines specifically, with 12 series and more than 220 models, accuracy to 0.5μm+L/1000, and a deep customer base in aerospace and defence.

Chotest, founded in 2005, spans coordinate measuring machines, profilometers and optical measuring instruments. Tianzhun, also founded in 2005 and listed on the STAR Market in 2019, built its business on optical measuring machines and moved into coordinate measurement more recently.

The main differences: AEH's German engineering lineage and nearly three decades of aerospace and defence validation are distinctive; large gantry machines and ultra-high-accuracy models are relative strengths within the domestic field; and NET·DMIS carries German PTB certification.

Accuracy is held by a lifecycle system covering four things: materials, manufacturing, software compensation and scheduled calibration. The aim is to keep drift predictable rather than merely small.

Materials. Precision granite guideways and air bearings have a low, stable coefficient of thermal expansion, so the structure itself resists temperature change.

Manufacturing. Our Xi'an site has over 5,000 m² of temperature-controlled assembly and fine-adjustment rooms held at 20±0.5°C. Every machine passes accuracy testing and at least 24 hours of continuous stability verification before it ships.

Software. NET·DMIS applies thermal compensation automatically, correcting results as ambient temperature moves.

Calibration. AEH is certified to ISO 9001, and every machine ships with indication error and probing error test reports. Annual on-site calibration is available, carried out with reference standards and documented in a certificate traceable to national standards. Customers can also monitor accuracy continuously through the EMRP quality management platform, which flags degradation before it affects parts.

Through authorised partners in your region, backed by the engineering teams at our Xi'an headquarters and the Mora organisation for remote and on-site support.

Network. Coverage extends to more than 30 countries through Mora and our partner network, including India, Russia, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea, Ukraine and the United States.

How support works. Partner engineers are trained at our headquarters — a ten-day practical programme — and handle sales consultation, installation, commissioning, operator training and routine maintenance. More difficult problems are supported by remote diagnostics from Xi'an, and we send our own engineers when a case warrants it.

Parts and calibration. Spares are ordered through your partner and shipped from the Xi'an store or a regional centre. Annual calibration is carried out by the partner or by AEH engineers, with reference standards traceable to international or national metrology standards.

Training. Available locally through your partner, or in depth at the Xi'an training centre. You can also reach our international team directly through the website or by email.

Yes. We wrote both packages, and compatibility was designed in from the start rather than bolted on afterwards.

Programs. NET·DMIS includes an import tool that reads AC-DMIS program files and converts the syntax and parameter settings automatically. Routine programs need no rewriting.

Data. Historical measurement results and report files import in bulk into the NET·DMIS data management system, so your quality record stays continuous and traceable.

Configuration. Machine parameters and probe definition files transfer with everything else, which removes most of the setup work.

For complex programs or bespoke functions, our engineers run the compatibility testing and make whatever adjustments are needed.

Acceptance follows the ISO 10360 series. Calibration and traceability rely on reference standards — gauge blocks, reference spheres, step gauges — that trace back to national standards. AEH provides both acceptance testing and annual calibration.

Acceptance. Once installation and commissioning are complete, testing runs to ISO 10360, covering indication error (E), probing error (R) and scanning error (THP and equivalents). Our engineers bring reference standards calibrated by the National Institute of Metrology and issue an acceptance report. You are equally welcome to have a third-party metrology body witness the acceptance.

Calibration and traceability. Annual calibration verifies length accuracy with gauge blocks and probing accuracy with a reference sphere, carried out on site and documented in a certificate. All our reference standards are themselves recalibrated at national or provincial metrology institutes, so the chain runs unbroken back to the national length standard and the SI unit.

Three ways to arrange it. An annual calibration contract with scheduled visits from our engineers; calibration by an independent metrology body; or self-calibration if you have the capability in-house, with our guidance and technical support behind it.