YXLON CT User Conference as International as Ever

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

This year, YXLON International lived up to its name during the annual YXLON CT User Conference. The event, which took place in September, featured two full days of all things computed tomography. For the first time since its inception, the event was not held at one of the YXLON sites, but rather they accepted the invitation from ArianeGroup to hold the conference at their site in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, France. 11 speakers from 10 international firms and institutions presented their unique insights into CT and encouraged over 85 participants to exchange their own experiences with CT.

Whether from a practical or theoretical perspective, speakers gave well received snapshots of their CT applications, collectively composing a holistic collage demonstrating the versatility of CT in industrial and academic fields. From product development in die casting, to dimensional inspection in medical technology, to quality control in electronics, aerospace and automotive; each presentation was a representation of computed tomography, delivered by experts in the field. 

Adrian Talbot of Renault Sport Formula One™ Team presented some recent racing test results acquired from the YXLON MU2000-D CT, a system YXLON provided to the organization as part of a technical partnership. In an entirely different territory, a lecture by Karolin Engelkes of the University of Hamburg Natural History Center (CeNak) piqued the interest of all the amateur biologists in attendance with her descriptions of revolutionary discoveries made with CT in the realm of zoology.

Jens Biedebach, Section Manager in the Mechanical Laboratory at Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe, fully immersed himself in the concept, saying, „In our opinion, the idea to hold the CT User Conference not at the YXLON location but at the site of a CT user, is brilliant. We had the opportunity to see live where ARIANE Group employs CT and what kinds of solutions their YXLON CT systems are providing for them. The presentations were also an inspiring out-of-box glimpse into the distinct worlds of CT users.“

Jacque Bouteyre, Head of Support Production at MAIT Vehicles and Defense Systems at ArianeGroup, currently has three CT systems in operation, including one YXLON CT Modular which he has congenially christened Cathy, and most recently an YXLON FF35 CT called Jessica. The „Hands-on Session“, supported by YXLON and Volume Graphics, was one highlight of the conference, as well as the tour of ARIANE Group’s Production and NDT Departments, a sight seldom witnessed by visitors due to the company’s strict security protocols. Bouteyre had this to say, “It is always a pleasure for us at ArianeGroup to demonstrate our testing and service capabilities, which we employ not only for our own products, but also for those of our customers from a variety of markets to ensure maximum quality satisfaction. Over the last 10 years, a strong partnership has developed between ArianeGroup and YXLON, stemming from our mutual work with non-destructive testing and our passion for quality. ”

Two weeks before the international conference in France, YXLON held a similar one-day event for German speaking customers at their company site in Heilbronn. Taking place on September 12th, and much to the delight of our guests, it was deliberately planned one day prior to the Volume Graphics User Group Meeting in Heidelberg so that participants could easily plan their trip to attend both events.

About ARIANE Group

The perfect innovative, highly competitive solution for civil and military launch systems and space applications – that’s what we give our institutional, commercial, and industrial customers. We are expert in the most cutting-edge technologies, from all aspects of complete propulsion systems right down to the items of equipment and materials. We leverage all of this expertise, the unique knowledge of our teams, into benefiting the space, defense, energy, and other industrial sectors, with high value-added products, equipment and services.

Guarantor of Europe’s autonomous, reliable access to space, we are the lead contractor for the Ariane family of European launchers and for the missiles in the French oceanic deterrent force.

Our activities cover the entire life-cycle of a launcher: design, development, production, operation and commerical service, the latter through our subsidiary Arianespace. We build and operate Ariane 5, the most reliable launcher on the commercial market today, and we are developing the next-generation Ariane 6 launcher, for which we are the design authority.

ArianeGroup springs from the shared ambition of Airbus and Safran to take the European space industry to the highest possible level.

Equally owned by the two groups, ArianeGroup houses the entire scope of their civil and military launcher activities and competences in a single, coherent company, with a workforce of over 9,000 highly skilled people in France and Germany. The network includes 11 subsidiaries and affiliates in which ArianeGroup has a significant shareholding. Finalized in 2016, ArianeGroup’s roots reach more than 70 years into the history of space activity in Europe.

The site at Saint-Médard (France) is responsible for loading strategic missile boosters for the French Strategic Oceanic Force. It develops and produces ammonium perchlorate for the Ariane 5 launcher and the future Ariane 6, as well as gas generators used in airbags for cars.

About YXLON

YXLON International designs and produces radioscopic and CT inspection systems for the widest variety of applications and fields. Whether situated in the aviation & aerospace, automotive or electronics industry, our customers are among the largest producers, major enterprises that place their confidence in our quality worldwide.

The name YXLON stands for assurance and quality for all types of cast parts, tires, electronic components, turbine blades, welded joints and a lot more. Our product portfolio includes X-ray systems for installation in radiological inspection envelopes, universal X-ray inspection systems on the basis of fully shielded devices, as well as solutions specific to a customer. Whether in manual, semi or fully automated operation, our inspection systems are ideal for deployment in research & development and can be integrated into any production process.

CT systems have been an integral part of our product portfolio since as far back as 2003. Computed tomography provides a three-dimensional insight into inspection items, thus enabling the analysis of inner structures, dimensional measurement tasks in metrology applications or actual-to-nominal comparisons to CAD data, to name only a few examples. Besides delivering a more precise inspection evaluation when compared with radiography, computed tomography also provides valuable information about the production process. Above and beyond such advantages, our microfocus systems permit highly detailed looks into the most intricate structures and tiniest components.

With our headquarters in Hamburg, sales and service locations in Tokyo, Osaka, Hudson (Ohio), San Jose (California), Beijing, Shanghai, Hattingen and Heilbronn, as well as a network of representatives in over 50 countries, as YXLON we’re local for our customers all over the world.

Since 2007, YXLON International has been a member of the COMET Group.