ISO 9001:2026 lands as metrology pushes onto the shop floor

ISO 9001:2026 has replaced the 2015 edition of the world's most widely used quality management standard, and the revision is deliberately evolutionary: manufacturers are encouraged to build on existing quality systems rather than rebuild them. The emphasis is on clarity, usability and relevance. That restrained tone sets the theme for the October 2026 issue of Metrology News, where the industry's direction of travel is the integration of measurement with AI, automation and manufacturing software — not the abandonment of metrological fundamentals.

Publishing Editor Keith Mills frames it plainly: the transition towards intelligent manufacturing "is not a single technological shift, but the convergence of many advances in measurement, software, automation and data management." His argument, and it holds up, is that as measurement data feeds more automated decisions, accuracy, traceability and measurement uncertainty (the quantified doubt attached to any result) matter more, not less.

What's new in hardware?

Hexagon's Portable Metrology Division launched HYPERSCAN SR, a fully wireless optical tracking 3D scanner aimed at making professional optical tracking cheaper and simpler. It targets the shop floor, supplier sites and field use, with dynamic tracking in a portable package.

Ajile Light Industries takes a different route to the same destination. Its DepthScan 3D Inspection Platform, built around a structured-light 3D imager (projecting a known pattern onto a surface to recover geometry), can be configured for lab, beside-line or 100% inline inspection. Flexibility is the pitch.

GBS Metrology expanded its range of complete optical 3D profilometers based on white light interferometry, with configurable portals. Optional XY stages offer travel from 100 × 100 mm² to 400 × 400 mm², and motorized Z axes come in 50, 100 or 200 mm variants.

At the extreme end sits GiantEye, a high-energy CT system entering service in early 2027. It performs non-destructive 3D inspection of objects up to the size of a 20-foot sea freight container, scanning test objects in 'road position' — a departure from its predecessor system.

Where does AI fit?

KITOV.ai introduced KITOV Prime, a robotic inspection system combining robotic positioning, CAD-based inspection planning, multi-directional illumination and deep-learning defect detection for complex, high-value parts. KUKA went broader with iiQKA.AI Vision, an AI-powered image processing system supporting both 2D and 3D vision, integrating object recognition, position determination and gripping point calculation within its robotics ecosystem.

Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Corp presented their software-defined factory vision — integrated data, AI and standardized software platforms running production — at E-FOREST TECH DAY 2026. Mills' editorial picks up the same thread: AI's industrial opportunity isn't merely automating existing inspection routines, but deciding what to measure and catching problems before defects propagate.

Traceability and data quality

Verisurf 2027 automates inspection planning from QIF (Quality Information Framework) data and preserves Persistent IDs through to exported QIF Results, maintaining characteristic traceability across systems. The accompanying interview with Andrew Hodson (CEO) and Michael Nugent (COO) of Verus Metrology Partners makes a sharper point: as CMM data flows directly into process control, fixturing has become one of the biggest and most overlooked sources of measurement risk. Holding a part is a metrology discipline in its own right.

Two further pieces argue that quality problems often predate the CMM. One examines the revision gap — parts measured against superseded drawings. The other, from Priya Vijayakumar of Metrologic DCS, covers tolerance analysis and simulation for predicting how component variation affects assembled products, warning that prediction accuracy depends on how faithfully the analysis mirrors real manufacturing.

Money and capacity

Renishaw completed the first phase of a £70 million development at its Miskin site in South Wales, its largest capital investment ever, announced in 2022. The project will ultimately double the site's size as the company marks 15 years since purchasing the facility.

InnovMetric unveiled MasterKey by PolyWorks, a customer success program bundling services for PolyWorks software users. Glimpse launched Explore, extending its CT scan review portal beyond batteries into medical devices, aerospace, automotive, additive manufacturing and electronics.

The issue's other features — virtual metrology, closed-loop machining quality, edge computing, surface inspection for aviation maintenance via HP-FX, and eviXscan3D's multi-scanner 100% inline systems — all circle the same question. Software-defined factories will only be as good as the traceable data underneath them.