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How Did You Get Into CMM Programming?

Just as the title says - how'd you first make your stake as a CMM programmer?

For me it was when a recruiter on LinkedIn randomly reached out to me asking if I was interested in being a Metrologist for an international company while I was working as a Quality Inspector at a job shop in 2020, just before the pandemic. I knew nothing about Metrology/CMM programming until I blew the technical portion of the interview process and got hired anyway haha! Ended up being mentored by a professional for 2 years before moving onto a specialized CMM programming gig at another company in 2022.

I figured - as it seems like a lot of us got on-the-job training for CMM programming, you guys/gals must have some interesting stories to share about how you got to where you are now, as CMM programmers.
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  • Welcome to the club! Most of us have had the 1 week training and thrown into the fire. The foundation was established from that week training and bridged out through the forums and trial and error. Many times my head pounded on the desk, that little voice inside said I can't do it, heavy loads of frustration, and nobody except this atmosphere to turn to. It's how you response to those instances that show your true character and will either make or break you as a programmer.


    I think what would have helped me a lot is a good book. I know that the help file is quite extensive and that there is a PDF manual, but there aren't a lot of examples there of how to structure a measuring routine. A book full of example parts, drawings, code examples, and a detailed explanation about what to do when would have been a huge help when I was getting started. Luckily, I muddled through, but I could have avoided a lot of simple mistakes along the way.

    Hexagon offers a whole lot of training videos now that weren't available when I was getting started. I haven't watched any of it myself, but I have a coworker that is getting started with PCDmis and says that he has found it very helpful. There is also some stuff on YouTube. So, I guess the number of resources is getting better.
  • Yep. a good book explaining in detail not a tiny binder that only has as much as a week of training can do. I told Hexagon instructor how abut 2 weeks at least per level. He said no way because 1) Companies don't want to pay for 2 weeks they only want to pay absolute minimum. 2) Hexagon itself doesn't want to pay their apps engineers 2 weeks just for talking.
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  • Yep. a good book explaining in detail not a tiny binder that only has as much as a week of training can do. I told Hexagon instructor how abut 2 weeks at least per level. He said no way because 1) Companies don't want to pay for 2 weeks they only want to pay absolute minimum. 2) Hexagon itself doesn't want to pay their apps engineers 2 weeks just for talking.
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